Mesoscale Simulation of the Evolution of the Grain Boundary Character Distribution

A mesoscale, variational simulation of grain growth in two-dimensions has been used to explore the effects of grain boundary properties on the grain boundary character distribution. Anisotropy in the grain boundary energy has a stronger influence on the grain boundary character distribution than anisotropy in the grain boundary mobility. As grain growth proceeds from an initially random distribution, the grain boundary character distribution reaches a steady state that depends on the grain boundary energy. If the energy depends only on the lattice misorientation, then the population and energy are related by the Boltzmann distribution. When the energy depends on both lattice misorientation and boundary orientation, the steady state grain boundary character distribution is more complex and depends on both the energy and changes in the gradient of the energy with respect to orientation.