Elastic stress effects on microstructural instabilities

Abstract: This review is on the phase field modelling studies in elastic stress effects on microstructural instabilities. We will focus primarily on four elastic stress driven instabilities: (i) Spinodal phase separation; (ii) Particle splitting; (iii) Rafting; and, (iv) Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld (ATG) instabilities. This review is organised as follows: in Section 1, we briefly describe some of the important and interesting experimental observations on elastic stress effects on microstructural instabilities; in Section 2, we describe, in reasonable detail, the theoretical developments in understanding the effects of elastic stress on microstructural instabilities in solids. Both Section 1 and 2 are neither comprehensive nor complete; however, they are helpful in setting the stage for discussion of (and, in giving a perspective on) phase field modelling studies that will be discussed in Section 3. In Section 4, we conclude with a summary and indication of future directions.