The solidification of undercooled melts via twinned dendritic growth

Abstract

The solidification of undercooled Cu-x wt pct Sn (x=1, 2, 3, or 4) alloys has been studied by a melt-encasement (fluxing) technique. It was found that below undercoolings of ΔT≈90 K, the preferred dendrite growth orientation in each of these alloys was along the 〈111〉 direction: moreover, the 2 and 3 wt pct Sn alloys also displayed evidence of twinned growth. Above ΔT≈90 K, the preferred growth direction returned to the more usual 〈100〉 orientation.