A three-dimensional fluid flow model for puddle formation in the single-roll rapid solidification process

The single-roll rapid solidification process (SRRSP) is considered to be a process of perspective to produce a Fe-Si-B ribbon of amorphous microstructure and near net shape products such as thin strips of stainless steel. The condition of a melt puddle between the nozzle and rotating wheel in the single-roll rapid solidification process significantly affects the quality and dimensional uniformity of the products as well as the smoothness of the operation. The purpose of this study was to develop a three-dimensional fluid flow analysis system to model the formation of puddle and flow conditions of molten metal in the puddle for the single-roll rapid solidification processes which include the planar flow casting (PFC) process and the single-roll strip casting process. The model is based on a computational fluid dynamics technique called the SOLA-VOF scheme, which possesses the capability of treating transient fluid flow problems with the evolution of free boundaries. Furthermore, the SOLA-VOF scheme is extended from two dimensions to three dimensions. The simulated results reveal how the melt puddle is formed between the nozzle and the rotating substrate and its corresponding fluid flow behavior for the PFC process as well as the single-roll strip casting process. The test results also demonstrate that two-dimensional analysis cannot properly consider the actual flow condition in the puddle.     

A new coupled model for alloy solidification

A new coupled model in the binary alloy solidification has been developed. The model is based on the cellular automaton (CA) technique to calculate the evolution of the interface governed by temperature, solute diffusion and Gibbs-Thomson effect. The diffusion equation of temperature with the release of latent heat on the solid/liquid (S/L) interface is valid in the entire domain. The temperature diffusion without the release of latent heat and solute diffusion are solved in the entire domain. In the interface cells, the     

Evolution of the solidification front of a binary mixture

We perform a numerical study of two-dimensional solidification of a binary alloy. We employ a front-fixing transformation and develop a finite-difference numerical scheme, which is then used to simulate the evolution of an initially planar solidification front. The self-similar solution is taken as a base state for numerical investigation; the parameter choice corresponds to the case when the melt is constitutionally supercooled and the linear instability is expected. The perturbed interface takes the form of traveling waves with nonlinear growth rate, with the increased Stefan number causing the slow-down of solidification. Another important feature is the decay of perturbation when the time _t0$t_0$ at which the perturbation is imposed to the self-similar base solution is large enough, despite the fact that the system is expected to be linearly unstable. Finally, we provide a numerical investigation of the lowest value of _t0$t_0$ for which the perturbation decays in time and its dependence on Stefan number.     

Local existence of solutions of a three phase‐field model for solidification

In this article we discuss the local existence and uniqueness of solutions of a system of parabolic differential partial equations modeling the process of solidification/melting of a certain kind of alloy. This model governs the evolution of the temperature field, as well as the evolution of three phase‐field functions; the first two describe two different possible solid crystallization states and the last one describes the liquid state. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional solidification with two possible crystallization states: Existence of solutions with flow in the melt

In this paper we discuss the existence of solutions of a system of nonlinear and singular partial differential equations constituting a phase field model with convection for non‐isothermal solidification/melting of certain metallic alloys in the case where two different kinds of crystallization are possible. Each one of these crystallization states is described by its own phase field, while the liquid phase is described by another one. The model also allows the occurrence of fluid flow in non‐solid regions, which are a priori unknown, and then we have a free‐boundary value problem. Thus, the model relates the evolutions of these three phase fields, the temperature of the solidification/melting process and the fluid flow in non‐solid regions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mathematical analysis of a nonisothermal Allen–Cahn type system

Existence of solutions for a nonisothermal Allen–Cahn type system is proved by using a semidiscrete spectral Galerkin method together with degree theory and maximum principle. Regularity and uniqueness are obtained in a special situation for domains with dimension up to two and smooth enough data. The present system may model the evolution of solidification or melting processes occurring in certain binary alloys. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mathematical analysis of a nonisothermal Allen–Cahn type system: error estimates

In this article, under certain conditions, we prove the regularity for the solutions of an Allen–Cahn phase‐field type system obtained as limits of approximate solutions constructed by using a semidiscrete spectral Galerkin method. With the help of this improved regularity, as one compares to previous results, we then derive error estimates for the approximate solutions in terms of the inverse of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian operator. The system under investigation may model the evolution of solidification or melting of certain binary alloys. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marangoni效应对等曲率弯曲界面凝固过程的影响

用渐近方法和相场数值模拟分别研究了球状晶体和柱状晶体凝固过程中,固液界面表面张力随温度的变化对界面运动的影响．结果表明Marangoni效应将增大临界晶核半径,减缓界面运动速度．在静止熔体中,枝晶尖端生长速度随Marangoni数线性下降．渐近展开和相场模拟得到的结果定性是一致的．     

Numerical computation of stress induced microstructure

The mesh transformation method is applied on a two-dimensional elastic crystal model to study the formation of laminated microstructure in austenite-martensite phase transition when certain external loads are applied. Numerical experiments show that simple laminated microstructures with various volume fractions and twin width can be obtained by varying the loads. Numerical experiments also show that second order laminated microstructure with branched needle-like laminates can also be obtained by certain loads.     

Differences in microstructure of Pd77.5Au6Si16.5 alloy solidified under microgravity and gravity conditions

The microstructure of Pd_77.5Au₆Si_16.5alloy solidified both on board a Chinese Retrievable Satellite and on the earth is studied. Postmortem analyses of microstructure presented that the same types of phases, primary phase (Pd₃Si) and eutectics (Pd₃Si + Pd solid solution) were formed in both cases. But the phase morphologies were quite different. It was dendritic for the primary phase and lamellar for the eutectics under normal gravity condition. However, under microgravity condition the primary phase was granular and the eutectic was peculiar network. Detailed analysis showed that the differences in morphologies of the microstructure were due to the existence of gravity-induced buoyancy convection on the earth which increased the mass transport abilities and decreased the thickness of the solute boundary in front of the solid-liquid interface during solidification under normal gravity condition.