Morphological characterization and distribution of autocatalytic-grown Ni4Ti3 precipitates in a Ni–Ti single crystal

The 3D size, morphology and distribution of autocatalytic-grown Ni4Ti3 precipitates in a Ni51Ti49 single crystal were characterized via a FIB/SEM Slice-and-View procedure and phase-field simulation. Important parameters on size and shape of the precipitates were measured. The pair distribution function and the minimum distance between two precipitates from different variants were calculated to describe the 3D distribution of the autocatalytic-grown Ni4Ti3 precipitates in single crystal Ni–Ti, with a comparison to the polycrystalline Ni50.8Ti49.2 alloy. Phase-field simulation was conducted to study the nucleation behavior of precipitates in the single crystal Ni–Ti.

► 3D visualization of autocatalytic-grown Ni4Ti3 in Ni–Ti single crystal via FIB/SEM. ► Quantitative morphological and distributional analysis of autocatalytic-grown Ni4Ti3. ► Phase-field simulation of Ni4Ti3 precipitates preferential nucleation sites.