Early stages of phase separation using three-dimensional atom probe and atomistic modelling

The early stages of clustering in Al-14.8 Mg alloy have been studied using atomistic modelling and 3DAP analysis. Atomistic modelling was based on first-principles quantum mechanical calculations and Monte Carlo (MC) based techniques. A good agreement between the experimental results and simulated data was obtained showing the appropriateness of the theoretical approach used. It has been shown that after 720 h at 35 °C (308 K) clustering of Mg was clearly detectable in the experimental alloy. The simulated data after 200 MC steps corresponded well to the experimental results obtained after ageing for 720 h