Fluid flow in solidifying monotectic alloys

Abstract

Use of a two-wavelength holographic technique results in a simultaneous determination of temperature and composition profiles during directional solidification in a system with a miscibility gap. A shadowgraph technique is employed for flow visualization. By these methods, flow regimes are identified and related to particular melt compositions. We discuss the relationships among fluid flow, phase separation, and mass transport during the solidification of the monotectic alloy. The primary sources of fluid motion in this system are buoyancy and thermocapillary forces. These forces act together when phase separation results in the formation of droplets (this occurs at the solid-liquid interface and in the bulk melt). While buoyancy forces arise due to density differences between the droplet and the host phase, thermocapillary forces (associated with temperature gradients in the droplet surface) may predominate. In the absence of phase separation, buoyancy results from density gradients related to temperature and compositional gradients in the single-phase bulk melt. The effects of buoyancy are especially evident in association with water- or ethanol-rich volumes created at the solid-liquid growth interface.