Three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of discontinuous grain growth in HAZ of stainless steel during GTAW process

The Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of grain growth in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of titanium alloys and ultra fine austenite steels are widely used. In single-phase alloys, the pinning effect of the grain boundary precipitates is one of the important factors to influence grain growth. However, it has not been considered in most of the simulations. In this study, both thermal pinning and precipitates pinning effects were taken into account to simulate grain growth in HAZ of austenite stainless steel SUS316 during gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. By using heat transfer and fluid flow model, the thermal process of welding that influences grain structure evolution is obtained as well. The results of the simulation agree with the experiment and demonstrate that the grains in HAZ grow discontinuously when a large amount of carbides lie on the grain boundary.