Mass Transport Through Polycrystalline Microstructures

Mass transport properties are important in polycrystalline materials used as protective films. Traditionally, such properties have been studied by examining model polycrystalline structures, such as a regular array of straight grain boundaries. However, these models do not account for a number of features of real grain ensembles, including the grain size distribution and variations in grain shape. In this study, a finite difference scheme is developed to study transient and steady-state mass transport through realistic two dimensional polycrystalline microstructures. Comparisons with the transport properties of traditional model microstructures provide regimes of applicability of such models. The effects of microstructural parameters such as average grain size are examined.