Growth of ordered domains in a computer model alloy with lattice misfit

We study via Monte Carlo simulations the influence of elastic interactions on the ordering and decomposition of a two-dimensional model binary alloy with antiferromagnetic nearest and ferromagnetic next nearest neighbor type interactions following a quench into the coexistence region. The elastic interaction leads to the development of a platelet morphology for the segregated ordered and disordered regions. A length scale characterizing the coarsening process follows a law of the type R = a+bt^1/3 with the growth b decreasing with the amount of ordered phase; this appears to be due to the presence of anti-phase boundaries between neighboring domains ordered on different sublattices which are difficult to eliminate. The application of uniaxial external stress results in "rafting" of the domains. Many of the simulation results are in agreement with experimentally observed effects in nickel-base superalloys.