Understanding Corrosion of Metallic Alloys

Using MedeA PhaseField, corrosion processes that take place over engineering timescales can be modeled within a single integrated, multiscale simulation environment. The left panel of the image is a colorized experimental micrograph of a Zr alloy aqueous corrosion film formed in an autoclave. Metallic Zr is shown in blue, monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 in green and red, respectively, and the ω-phase of ZrO in yellow. The right panel shows a simulated corrosion film microstructure obtained with MedeA PhaseField using the same phase coloring. The material parameters for this simulation were obtained exclusively from DFT calculations and MLP-driven atomistic simulations fitted to a DFT training set, requiring no experimental data inputs. These simulations realistically describe corrosion film microstructural evolution, which is an essential starting point for accurate prediction and mitigation of material corrosion performance.

Controlling Thin Film Growth in PVD

MedeA PhaseField enables users to predict the resulting microstructures of physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. Thin film growth, morphology evolution, and interface formation are simulated over relevant time scales (seconds to hours) and length scales (micrometers). PhaseField simulations resolve the key controlling mechanisms, such as grain nucleation, surface diffusion, and competitive growth, providing insight into film texture, surface roughness, and compositional segregation under varying deposition conditions.

As PhaseField is fully integrated into the MedeA user environment, its material and kinetic input values can be derived from atomistic calculations, thermodynamic models, or literature data when experimental values are unavailable. MedeA PhaseField thus enables users to directly link deposition conditions to resulting film micro- structures.

Sintering of Ceramic Pellets

MedeA PhaseField provides a powerful framework for understanding the relationships between sintering process parameters and resulting microstructures. The physics of pore evolution, grain morphology, and interface development during densification are all accounted for. By resolving the coupled mechanisms of surface diffusion, grain-boundary diffusion, and bulk transport, PhaseField enables realistic predictions of pore shrinkage and microstructural coarsening as a function of thermomechanical processing history.

Fully integrated within the MedeA platform, PhaseField simulations can be parameterized using atomistic calculations, thermodynamic data, or experimental inputs, allowing users to quantitatively link processing conditions to resulting microstructures. This power enables users to explore and optimize sintering schedules, reduce trial-and-error in manufacturing process development, and gain mechanistic insight into densification behavior.