Molecular dynamical simulation of the behavior of early precipitated stage in aging process in dilute Cu-Cr alloy

The aging behaviors of Cu-Cr alloys in the early stage at different temperatures are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. First principles potentials are used for the interactions between Cu and Cr atoms. The initial behavior of precipitation is characterized by transmission electron microscope and electron energy disperse spectroscopy. The results showed that Cu-Cr supersaturated solid solution is thermodynamically unstable. The mean-square displacements of the atoms are used to describe the diffusivity. At room temperature, the atoms only show harmonic vibrations near the equilibrium positions. The mutual diffusion at 873 K is different from the unidirectional diffusion in low temperatures. The calculation shows that aging process is accelerated with increasing temperature, which is not only due to the lower diffusion activation energy of Cr at higher temperature, but also because Cu atoms are also participated in the aging process. When "aging" at 1073 K, the precipitation of Cr element is dissolved again into Cu matrix, which is an "over-aging" state of Cu-Cr alloy at high temperature.