Molecular dynamics simulations of the mechanisms controlling the propagation of bcc/fcc semi-coherent interfaces in iron

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the effects of different orientation relationships between fcc and bcc phases on the bcc/fcc interfacial propagation in pure iron systems at 300 K. Three semi-coherent bcc/fcc interfaces have been investigated. In all the cases, results show that growth of the bcc phase starts in the areas of low potential energy and progresses into the areas of high potential energy at the original bcc/fcc interfaces. The phase transformation in areas of low potential energy is of a martensitic nature while that in the high potential energy areas involves occasional diffusional jumps of atoms.