Composition variations induced by g-jitter in Bridgman growth of Sn–Bi alloys in microgravity

Abstract

This work is a detailed analysis of the experimental data on g-jitter effects on solute segregation during directional solidification of tinbismuth alloys. The experiments were carried out under microgravity conditions within the framework of the MEPHISTO programme. The MEPHISTO data from the USMP-3 space flight mission represented the first quantitative data on g-jitter effects on a directional solidification experiment that were obtained under well-defined conditions The growth conditions and the results of previous numerical simulations are briefly recalled, along with the predictions of an analytical model for both the g-jitter induced composition variations and the time necessary to get back to steady state conditions. The feasibility of various mitigation strategies, aiming at counterbalancing the deleterious effect of the g-jitters is also discussed. It is concluded that the ability of numerical modelling to provide reliable predictions of g-jitter effects for the interpretation and planning of future space experiments is still limited by a lack of well-documented experimental results that can be used for verification.