Decomposition kinetics in Fe–Cu dilute alloys. Monte Carlo simulation using concentration-dependent interactions

Abstract

A generalization of the statistical (Monte Carlo) simulation technique for determining the structure of alloys is proposed. It takes into account the dependence of effective interactions between the atoms of a dissolved chemical element on their local concentration. Using the ab initio parametrization of the model, the decomposition of the bcc Fe–Cu alloy accompanied by the formation of Cu nanoprecipitates is studied. It is shown that the concentration dependence of effective interactions significantly affects the decomposition kinetics by displacing its onset to longer times in agreement with the experiment.