A description of diffusion-limited growth in solid-solid transformations, which were strongly influenced by elastic effects was developed. Density differences and structural transformations provoke stresses at interfaces, which affect the phase equilibrium conditions. Equations for the interface kinetics were formulated which were similar to dendritic growth and the growth of a stable phase from a metastable solid in both a channel geometry and in free space was studied. Sharp-interface calculations based upon Green's function methods, and phase field simulations supplemented by analytical investigations, were performed. For purely dilatational transformations, a single growing finger was found, with symmetry breaking at higher driving forces whereas, for shear transformations, the emergence of twin structures could be favourable. Steady-state shapes and propagation velocities were predicted which could be higher than those in conventional dendritic growth.

Pattern Formation during Diffusion Limited Transformations in Solids. M.Fleck, C.Hüter, D.Pilipenko, R.Spatschek, E.A.Brener: Philosophical Magazine, 2010, 90[1-4], 265-86