On abnormal grain growth in nanocrystalline materials induced by small particles

A duality in the behaviour of small particles, i.e. their ability to migrate along with some grain boundaries and, simultaneously, inability to move along with the others, has been shown to affect the character of the grain growth process. It is found by numerical simulations that a decrease in the particle mobility favours the evolution of abnormal grain growth and that the particle volume fraction, at low particle mobility, also affects its development. It has been supposed that these results explain the evolution of abnormal grain growth in compacted nanocrystalline materials where small voids could play the part of particles.