A phase-field model is proposed to study the inhomogeneous growth of zirconia induced by the stress–oxidation interaction, which captures the complex interplay among diffusion, oxidation kinetics, interfacial morphology evolution, and stress variation in an oxidation process. Through this numerical model, many experimentally observed but insufficiently understood phenomena can be well explained. Specifically, the numerical simulations reveal quantitatively the causes of interface roughening or smoothening during the inward oxide growth, the roughness-dependent oxide growth rate, and the nucleation sites of premature cracking. These numerical findings can be used as the theoretical references for the improving the durability of oxide scale and prolonging the service life of zirconium-based alloy cladding used in the nuclear power plant.

提出了一个相场模型来研究应力-氧化相互作用引起的氧化锆的不均匀生长，该模型捕获了扩散，氧化动力学，界面形态演化和氧化过程中应力变化之间的复杂相互作用。通过此数值模型，可以很好地解释许多实验观察到但尚未充分理解的现象。具体而言，数值模拟定量地揭示了在向内氧化物生长过程中界面变粗糙或变光滑的​​原因，取决于粗糙度的氧化物生长速率以及过早开裂的成核位置。这些数值结果可作为理论参考，以提高氧化皮的耐久性，并延长用于核电站的锆基合金熔覆层的使用寿命。