Integrated simulation of thermo-solutal convection and pattern formation in directional solidification

Numerical analysis is carried out to examine the effects of thermo-solutal convection on the formation of complex patterns in directionally solidified binary alloys. A finite-difference analysis is used for dynamic modeling of a two-dimensional prototype of the vertical Bridgman system that takes into account heat transfer in the melt, crystal, and the ampoule, as well as the melt flow and solute transport. Actual temperature data from experimental measurements are used for accurately describing the thermal boundary conditions. A range of complex dynamical behavior is predicted in the melt flow due to flow transitions and this is found to be directly related to the spatial patterns observed experimentally in the solidified alloys. The model is applied to single phase solidification in the Al–Cu and Pb–Sn systems to characterize the effect of convection on the macroscopic shape of the interface. The application of the model to hyper-peritectic alloys in the Sn–Cd system shows that the presence of oscillating flow can give rise to a novel convection induced microstructure in which a tree-like primary phase in the center of the sample is embedded in the surrounding peritectic matrix.