Combined experimental and numerical study on the effective grain growth dynamics in highly anisotropic systems: Application to barium titanate

Abnormal grain growth is a commonly observed phenomenon in barium titanate. It is usually associated with grain boundaries of different mobility and energy present in the microstructure. The influence of interfaces with variable mobility and energy on grain growth is investigated by a combined experimental and numerical approach in a transition region where growth behaviour strongly deviates from Arrhenius behaviour. Abnormal growth occurs between 1275 and 1325 °C, with normal grain growth occurring above and below this temperature range. The overall grain growth rate of the small matrix grains in the transition region is found to increase nonlinearly with inverse temperature between the high- and low-temperature states. A similar behaviour is found in simulations using a 3-D mesoscale grain growth model under the assumption of fractions of grain boundaries being in the high- or low-temperature state. The transition at the grain boundary is in agreement with the complexion model. Additionally, the simulation is used to map the nucleation probability for abnormal grains in the transition region as a function of combined energy and mobility advantages. The energy advantage of the grain boundaries is found to be of greater importance for the nucleation of abnormal grains compared to results from mean field models.