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Grain growth in polycrystals is traditionally considered a capillarity-driven process, where grain boundaries (GBs) migrate toward their centers of curvature (i.e., mean curvature flow) with a velocity proportional to the local curvature (including extensions to account for anisotropic GB energy and mobility). Experimental and simulation evidence shows that this simplistic view is untrue. We demonstrate that the failure of the classical mean curvature flow description of grain growth mainly originates from the shear deformation naturally coupled with GB motion (i.e., shear coupling). Our findings are built on large-scale microstructure evolution simulations incorporating the fundamental (crystallography-respecting) microscopic mechanism of GB migration. The nature of the deviations from curvature flow revealed in our simulations is consistent with observations in recent experimental studies on different materials. This work also demonstrates how to incorporate the mechanical effects that are essential to the accurate prediction of microstructure evolution. 

Near-rigid-body grain rotation is commonly observed during grain growth, recrystallization, and plastic deformation in nanocrystalline materials. Despite decades of research, the dominant mechanisms underlying grain rotation remain enigmatic. We present direct evidence that grain rotation occurs through the motion of disconnections (line defects with step and dislocation character) along grain boundaries in platinum thin films. State-of-the-art in situ four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) observations reveal the statistical correlation between grain rotation and grain growth or shrinkage. This correlation arises from shear-coupled grain boundary migration, which occurs through the motion of disconnections, as demonstrated by in situ high-angle annular dark-field STEM observations and the atomistic simulation–aided analysis. These findings provide quantitative insights into the structural dynamics of nanocrystalline materials.