Interfacial Stress, Interfacial Energy, and Phase Equilibria in Binary Alloys

A simple model is presented in order to explore the influence of interfacial stress, interfacial energy, and surface stress on the characteristics of phase equilibria in stressed, two-phase binary alloys. Two different system geometries are employed: concentric spheres and thin plates. The conditions for thermodynamic equilibrium are solved and equations of state for each geometry are obtained in terms of the phase fraction, alloy composition, system dimension, and several dimensionless materials parameters. Elastic stress introduces new equilibrium states that are further modified by the interfacial quantities. Those conditions for which interfacial quantities can induce significant changes in the equilibrium phase fraction and phase compositions are identified.