Monte Carlo simulation of stored energy driven interface migration*

The linear relationship, V = μF where V is the interface velocity, μ is the mobility and F is the driving force is captured only under restricted conditions in conventional Monte Carlo simulations of recrystallization that use a bulk deformation stored energy term in the energy Hamiltonian. In this paper, the migration of an interface driven by a difference in the stored energy of deformation across the interface is simulated using a Monte Carlo approach where the stored energy of deformation is represented as the surface energy of cells/subgrains formed by dynamic recovery during deformation. The interface migration velocity is calculated as a function of the driving force as well as the interface mobility. The simulations capture the linear relationship between interface velocity and driving force for constant interface mobility, and also between interface velocity and mobility for constant driving force, assuming that there is no recovery of the subgrain structure in the bulk of the material during interface migration, and the lattice temperatures are high enough to prevent the locking of the interface in positions of local energy minima. In the presence of simultaneous recovery by subgrain growth in the bulk, the driving force across the interface gradually decreases during interface migration, causing a decrease in the interface velocity. The relevance of these results to mesoscale modelling of recrystallization is discussed.