Size focusing in core-shell precipitates: A phase-field study
Abstract
Due to their enhanced resistance to coarsening and/or creep, aluminium alloys with precipitates of two distinct phases in a core-shell morphology are of great contemporary interest. In this paper, we focus on the curious observation in two recent studies on Al-Sc-Li and Al-Yb-Li alloys that growth of the shell phase leads to a narrowing of the size distribution. We have studied this phenomenon, known as size focusing, using a theoretical framework (which extends Zener's theory of diffusional growth to a core-shell precipitate) and multi-precipitate simulations based on a phase field model. Our results yield key theoretical insights as well as conclusions with practical significance. (a) On the theoretical front, we show clearly that size focusing is a growth phenomenon: it ends when shell growth ends, and coarsening begins. (b) On the practical front, our results offer guidelines for designing alloys with narrower size distributions: size focusing is promoted in alloys with greater shell volume fractions and greater inter-precipitate spacing.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{mishra2026size,
title = {{Size focusing in core-shell precipitates: A phase-field study}},
author = {Soumya Mishra and T. A. Abinandanan},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.07002},
eprint = {2607.07002},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07002},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Size focusing in core-shell precipitates: A phase-field study
AU - Soumya Mishra
AU - T. A. Abinandanan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.07002
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07002
AB - Due to their enhanced resistance to coarsening and/or creep, aluminium alloys with precipitates of two distinct phases in a core-shell morphology are of great contemporary interest. In this paper, we focus on the curious observation in two recent studies on Al-Sc-Li and Al-Yb-Li alloys that growth of the shell phase leads to a narrowing of the size distribution. We have studied this phenomenon, known as size focusing, using a theoretical framework (which extends Zener's theory of diffusional growth to a core-shell precipitate) and multi-precipitate simulations based on a phase field model. Our results yield key theoretical insights as well as conclusions with practical significance. (a) On the theoretical front, we show clearly that size focusing is a growth phenomenon: it ends when shell growth ends, and coarsening begins. (b) On the practical front, our results offer guidelines for designing alloys with narrower size distributions: size focusing is promoted in alloys with greater shell volume fractions and greater inter-precipitate spacing.
ER -