Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Misfit strain connected with the formation of large internal stresses may drastically influence the precipitation kinetics. A new model for the simultaneous precipitate growth and misfit stress relaxation in binary systems has been developed based on the idea that the internal stresses are relaxed by generation or annihilation of vacancies at the matrix/precipitate interface. The model is applied to the Fe-C system by considering the growth of the cementite precipitate in the ferritic matrix. The influence of the stress relaxation on the precipitate growth kinetics is demonstrated.