Mechanics of incompatible asymmetric grain boundary migration

TL;DR

This paper introduces a mesoscale model explaining asymmetric grain boundary migration behaviors, including defect emission and ratcheting, through a new constitutive flow rule that incorporates elastic compatibility and interfacial shear evolution.

Contribution

It develops a novel multiphase-field framework with a constitutive flow rule for eigendeformation, elucidating the mechanistic origins of asymmetric boundary migration.

Findings

Persistent defect-like residuals after migration

Transition from planar to lamination motion at high inclinations

Observation of ratcheting behavior under cyclic loading

Abstract

Grain boundary (GB) migration governs microstructure evolution and can mediate plastic deformation through sliding or shear coupling. Numerous experimental and numerical studies have reported a wide range of behaviors associated with boundary migration, such as defect emission or mode switching. Notably, recent studies have reported directionally asymmetric migration rates under symmetric loading, attributing this behavior to intrinsically asymmetric mobility; however, a mechanistic mesoscale explanation for this behavior remains lacking. In this work, we introduce a constitutive flow rule for grain-boundary eigendeformation within a multiphase-field framework, in which interfacial shear evolves in response to its mechanically conjugate driving force through the phase field Allen-Cahn equations. The formulation systematically employs regularized grain boundary shear kinematics informed by crystallography, and enables elastic compatibility to modulate boundary motion. Migration thresholds, residual back-stress, and apparent directional asymmetry appear naturally as emergent mechanical behavior. Simulations of symmetric and asymmetric tilt grain boundaries under mechanical, synthetic, and curvature-driven loading reveal persistent defect-like residuals following incompatible migration, transitions from planar motion to lamination at large inclinations, and even "ratcheting" behavior. These results provide a mechanically transparent explanation for behaviors such as effective mobility asymmetry and establish elastic compatibility as a constitutive mechanism in mesoscale models of boundary-mediated plasticity.