This article presents a basic introduction and some advanced concepts used in the use of cellular automata for the modelling and simulation of the motion of grain boundaries in evolving microstructures. An attempt was made to compile a complete review of literature in this context only. It was illustrated how cellular automata could be used to describe grain boundary motion when driven by the minimization of volume-stored energy as well as when it was curvature driven. Attention was drawn to the typical problems that may occur when modelling grain boundary surface topologies using discretized numerical representations, and extended information was given on a previously published solution to this problem with irregular cellular automata. Finally, an example of a hybrid model was given, combining cellular automata with a computational description of diffusion and precipitate dissolution with an application to the problem of abnormal grain growth.

An Introductory Review of Cellular Automata Modeling of Moving Grain Boundaries in Polycrystalline Materials. K.G.F.Janssens: Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 2010, 80[7], 1361-81