Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10621207 | Acta Materialia | 2005 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
Phase separation processes in compound materials can produce intriguing and complicated patterns. Yet, characterizing the geometry of these patterns quantitatively can be quite challenging. In this paper we propose the use of computational algebraic topology to obtain such a characterization. Our method is illustrated for the complex microstructures observed during spinodal decomposition and early coarsening in both the deterministic Cahn-Hilliard theory, as well as in the stochastic Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model. While both models produce microstructures that are qualitatively similar to the ones observed experimentally, our topological characterization points to significant differences. One particular aspect of our method is its ability to quantify boundary effects in finite size systems.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Ceramics and Composites
Authors
Marcio Gameiro, Konstantin Mischaikow, Thomas Wanner,