Application and Prospects of Mechanically-Coupled Phase-Field Models in Aeronautical Materials

With the rapid development of the aviation industry, superalloys and titanium-based alloys serve as core materials for aerospace engines and structural components, whose microstructure control and performance optimization are key factors to ensure equipment reliability. The mechanically-coupled phase-field model, as an effective tool for simulating microstructure evolution, bridges the gap among microscale mechanical principles, mesoscale microstructure simulation and macroscopic performance predictions. The model reveals the intrinsic connection between microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of materials in thermomechanical coupled field, providing theoretical support for the microstructure control and performance evaluation of aerospace materials. This paper systematically reviewed the research progress on mechanically-coupled phase-field models in the fields of typical aerospace materials, such as superalloys and titanium-based alloys. It outlined typical application cases of the model in investigating the mechanisms of solid-state phase transformation. This review encompassed applications of phase-field models from elastic and elastoplastic to defect-coupled formulations, addressing both γ′ phase precipitation and rafting in superalloys, as well as the evolution of precipitate phases in titanium-based alloys. Furthermore, it discussed the challenges in current research and provided an outlook on the future prospects of the mechanically-coupled phase-field model in aerospace material research. Lastly, it highlighted the key issues of this type of phase-field model and its future development directions.