CAFE Modeling of Segregation and Structure in Levitated Droplets

Abstract

The coupled two dimensional (2D) Cellular Automaton (CA) Finite Element (FE) model has been extended based on the recent work by Guillemot et al. [1]. Extensions concern i microsegregation at the scale of the CA cells ii macrosegregation at the scale of the FE mesh based on a remeshing technique. The model is applied to segregation taking place upon single grain nucleation and growth from the centre of a spherical domain. The simulation retrieves the prediction of Heringer et al. [2]. Application to solidification of a spherical Al-4wt%Cu droplet demonstrates its capability to deal with mass exchange by diffusion outside the grain envelope defined by the mushy zone together with back diffusion in the solid [3].