A Two-Phase Anneal: The Beauty of Interface Dynamics

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Two phases are tracked as they tend toward single-phase homogeneity as a consequence of an interface dynamic acting like surface tension. Roughly speaking, this dynamic is observed to act in such a way as to "squeeze out" one of the phases over time. The yellow phase is intended to represent some given solid material's nonanomalous regions, while the black phase is intended to represent any one of various possible anomalies in the material, such as dislocation or other defect, and the stresses they produce. In consideration of experiment, the observed tendency of this abstraction to progress toward its nonanomalous equilibrium state configuration would be consistent with an elevated temperature anneal that similarly would tend to drive a given system toward its nonanomalous equilibrium state configuration through the diffusive relocation of atoms within the material (microstructure anneal), which in turn would facilitate stress relief (stress anneal); the latter would appear as a lowering of the material's Gibbs energy. A key point of observation is the model's proposed atomic diffusion through the interfaces between the phases; when the control variable "time steps" is zero, the number of such interfaces is a maximum.