Scripta

Mate-rialia,Vol. 37, No.

I, pp. 119-124, 1997

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PII S1359-6462(97)00056-0

ON DYNAMIC SEGREGATION IN THE

DISCONTINUOUS PRECIPITATION REACTION
E. Rabkin, W. Gust and Y. E&in*
Institut Air Metallkunde, University of Stuttgart, See&. 75, D-70174 Stuttgart, Germany
*Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, The University of Western Australia,
Nedlands, WA 6907, Australia
(Received September 11, 1996)
(Accepted December 12, 1996)
Introduction

A detailed analysis of the growth kinetics of discontinuous precipitation (DP) has been given by Cahn
[l]. He calcu!lated the distribution of solute atoms within the cc lamellae of the precipitation cell under
the assumption of a planar reaction front, steady-state distribution of the solute atoms and full equilibrium at the interphase boundary between CIand p lamellae. However, experimental verification of
Cahns classical model encounters certain difficulties [2] which pose challenging problems to the theory. A key quantity in Cahns model is the triple product s&,, where s is the segregation factor, 6 is
the grain boundary (GB) width, and 0, is the chemical interdiffusion coefficient along the GB. The
values of this product as extracted from the experimental data on the basis of Calms analysis are one to
four orders of magnitude lower than the corresponding values obtained by radiotracer studies of GB
diffusion [2]. To explain this discrepancy, B6gel and Gust [3] have suggested the concept of jerky
motion of the GB during the DP process. In the case of stop-and-go motion, the instantaneous GB
migration rat{: should be used in the Cahns model, which can be orders of magnitude higher than the
migration rate averaged over long periods of time. The jerky character of the GB motion during the DP
reaction in the Al-15 at.%& alloy has been confirmed recently by in-situ experiments in a highvoltage electron microscope [4]. The concept of jerky motion has also been applied to the interpretation of the eTperimenta1 results on DP in Mg-Al[5] and Al-22 at.% Zn [6] alloys.
In the present work, we will point out another possible source of discrepancy between the values of
the GB interdiffisivities obtained from the kinetics of DP using Cahns model and by radiotracer
measurements on stationary GBs. It will be shown that solute drag can decrease the dynumic segregation factor for moving GBs by orders of magnitude in systems with a strong GB segregation tendency.
An attempt to take into account the solute drag during DP has been made by Sundquist [7]. However,
his calculations are based on Hillerts model of the GB [8], in which the interaction between the GB
and solute atoms is represented by a rectangular potential well. It has been recognized later that this
model does not provide an adequate description of the solute drag [9]. For example, the diffusioninduced GB migration (DIGM) process cannot be explained in the framework of this model, because
the solute atoms which come to the GB by GB diffusion from an external source cannot leave the GB
for the matrix. The reason for this is the infmite attraction force acting on the solute atoms on the edge
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