MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF GRAIN-GROWTH IN 3-DIMENSIONS

The temporal evolution and morphology of grain growth in three dimensi ons were simulated by Monte Carlo method. In order to prevent impingem ent of grains of like orientation, new algorithm was adopted. The anis otropy of the grain boundary energy is incorporated into the model. Co mpared with the case in which no anisotropy of boundary energy is assu med, the suppression of grain growth was observed at the initial stage of growth in the grain structure with anisotropic grain boundary ener gy. However, the growth rate is higher at the later stage. The grain s ize and the face number distributions become broad. To evaluate the pr ofile of the grain size distribution, a parameter called microstructur al entropy, S, is defined. It was shown that the characteristics of si ze distribution profile may be represented by the value S. The average size of n-faced grain is proportional to the grain face number, n. Th e effect of the anisotropy of grain boundary energy on the n-dependenc e of the average grain size is not evident, The nearest neighbour face number correlation similar to the Aboav-Weaire relation in two dimens ion is observed in both grain structures with isotropic grain boundary energy and anisotropic grain boundary energy.