On the basis of the vacancy–solute complex mechanism, a model describing deformation-induced non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation of solute was established for dilute alloys, which includes the quasi-thermodynamics and kinetics. The model was applied to the evaluation of non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation of B during high temperature plastic deformation in an austenitic steel microstructure. The deformation-induced non-equilibrium segregation increased with decreasing temperature and was considerably larger than the thermal equilibrium one, especially below about 750C. In addition, at a given temperature the non-equilibrium segregation augments with rising strain rate as the deformation-created supersaturated vacancy concentration increased. The predictions were generally consistent with some experimental observations.

Deformation-Induced Non-Equilibrium Grain Boundary Segregation in Dilute Alloys. S.H.Song, Q.Zhang, L.Q.Weng: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2008, 473[1-2], 226-32