A grain-boundary pre-melting/pre-wetting model was based upon the Miedema model and computational thermodynamics. This predicted that grain-boundary disordering could start at temperatures as low as 60 to 85% of the bulk solidus temperature. This model quantitatively explained the long-standing mystery of sub-solidus activated sintering in W–Pd, W–Ni, W–Co, W–Fe and W–Cu, and it had broad implications for the understanding of grain boundary-controlled transport kinetics and physical properties. It also demonstrated the need to develop so-called grain boundary phase diagrams as a tool in materials design.

Grain Boundary Disordering in Binary Alloys. J.Luo, X.Shi: Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 92[10], 101901