Abstract
The phase-field method has become the main computational technique for modeling and predicting the microstructure evolution in materials science and engineering. Its versatility and ability to capture complex microstructure phenomena under different processing conditions make it a valuable tool for researchers and engineers in advancing our understanding and engineering of materials microstructures and properties. This issue of MRS Bulletin is focused on a few recent success stories of applying the phase-field method to understanding, discovering, and designing mesoscale structures and for guiding the design of experiments to optimize properties or discover new phenomena or functionalities. We hope this issue will inspire increasing future focus on utilizing the phase-field method to guide experimental synthesis and characterization for desirable properties.
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Funding
The authors thank X. Cheng for preparing the figure of this editorial. L.-Q.C.’s effort is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-SC0020145 as part of the Computational Materials Sciences Program. L.-Q.C. also appreciates the generous support from the Donald W. Hamer Foundation through a Hamer Professorship at Penn State. N.M. acknowledges the support by the HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council (101123107—μTWIN).
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Chen, LQ., Moelans, N. Phase-field method of materials microstructures and properties. MRS Bulletin 49, 551–555 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-024-00724-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-024-00724-7