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At least 37 records · Page 2

Use of rotation to suppress thermosolutal convection in directionally solidified binary alloys

Effects of rotation on onset of convection during plane-front directional solidification of Pb-Sn and the pseudobinary system mercury cadmium telluride (Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te), and on dendritic solidification of Pb-Sn have been studied by means of linear stability analysis. Incorporating Coriolis and centrifugal accelerations into the momentum equation of Coriell et al., we find that under realistic processing conditions, a large degree of stabilization can be achieved using modest rotation rates for both Pb-Sn and mercury cadmium telluride. At a growth velocity of 5 micron/sec and nominal liquid-side temperature gradient of 200 K/cm in Pb-Sn, rotation at 500 rpm results in a hundredfold increase in the critical Sn concentration. Large increases in the maximum allowable growth velocity at fixed melt composition are also attainable with modest rotation rates. The effect is amplified under conditions of reduced gravitational acceleration. For Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te, we have also studied the nonrotating case. The key differences are due to the existence of a composition range for Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te in which the melt density has a local maximum as a function of temperature. When the melt solidifies by cooling from below, the liquid density may initially increase with distance above the interface, before ultimately decreasing as the melt temperature increases above the value at which the local density maximum occurs. In contrast to the Pb-Sn case where density depends monotonically on temperature and composition, for Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te there exists a critical value of the growth velocity above which plane-front solidification is unstable for all bulk CdTe mole fractions. Again, rotation leads to significant inhibition of onset. We identify the predicted stabilization with the Taylor-Proudman mechanism by which rotation inhibits thermal convection in a single-component fluid heated from below. In a binary liquid undergoing solidification, rotation inhibits the onset of buoyancy-driven convection, and has no effect on the short-wavelength morphological instability. At large growth velocities, the plane-front interface between liquid and solid becomes unstable with respect to a morphological instability and solidification occurs dendritically, with a mushy zone of dendrites and interdendritic fluid separating the solid from the melt. For the Pb-Sn system, rotation substantially suppresses the onset of convection in the mushy zone and in the overlying liquid, holding open the promise that rotation can suppress freckling and other macrosegregation defects.

Pearlstein, Arne J.↗

Enthalpies of a binary alloy during solidification

The purpose of the paper is to present a method of calculating the enthalpy of a dendritic alloy during solidification. The enthalpies of the dendritic solid and interdendritic liquid of alloys of the Pb-Sn system are evaluated, but the method could be applied to other binaries, as well. The enthalpies are consistent with a recent evaluation of the thermodynamics of Pb-Sn alloys and with the redistribution of solute in the same during dendritic solidification. Because of the heat of mixing in Pb-Sn alloys, the interdendritic liquid of hypoeutectic alloys (Pb-rich) of less than 50 wt pct Sn has enthalpies that increase as temperature decreases during solidification.

Poirier, D. R.↗

Directional solidification of eutectic composites in space environment

The Ni-Ni3Ta eutectic and a nickel-base alloy containing 30 wt pct Ta were solidified unidirectionally in an electron beam floating zone melting apparatus. It was found that the volume fraction of the Ni3Ta phase in the Ni-Ni3Ta eutectic mixture was increased from 7.6 to 36 volume pct in agreement with the theory as predicted. Tensile properties of the randomly solidified and unidirectionally solidified Ni-Ni3Ta eutectic were determined as function of solidification rate and temperature. It was found that the ultimate tensile strength decreased as both the test temperature and solidification rate increased. An elongation of 40 pct was obtained for a nickelbase alloy containing 30 wt at room temperature. This unusually large elongation was attributed to the superplastic behavior of the alloy. The critical currents versus the external fields at 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.2 deg for the unidirectionally solidified Pb-Sn eutectic were measured. The values of critical fields at zero critical currents were obtained by extrapolation.

Yue, A. S.↗

NBS: Materials measurements

Measurements in an Auger spectrometer of surface impurity concentrations on liquid gallium showed that the principle impurities were oxygen and carbon. The impurities showed a tendency to collect into plates or clumps. In Pb rich Pb-Sn off eutectic alloys, macrosegration caused by solutal convection was not reduced by vertical or horizontal fields of 0.1 T, but downward solidification virtually eliminated macrosegration in small diameter samples. Phase assemblages of selected compositions on the joints K(Fe0.5 Si-0.5) O2 -SiO2 and KFeO2 - SiO2 were determined over a large range of oxygen partial pressures and the temperature range 800 C to 1400 C.

Source record↗

Solutal convection induced macrosegregation and the dendrite to composite transition in off-eutectic alloys

The effect of solute gradient induced convection during vertical solidification on the macrosegregation of Pb-rich Pb-Sn off-eutectic alloys is determined experimentally as a function of composition and growth rate. In many cases macrosegregation is sufficient to prevent the plane front solidification of the alloy. The transition from dendritic to composite structure is found to occur when the composition of the solid is close enough to the eutectic composition to satisfy a stability criterion based on the ratio of the liquid temperature gradient to growth rate. A vertical or horizontal magnetic field of 0.1 T (1 kilogauss) does not reduce macrosegregation, but downward solidification (liquid below solid) virtually eliminates macrosegregation in small (3 mm) diameter samples.

Boettinger, W. J.↗

Substrate heating rates for planar and cylindrical-post magnetron sputtering sources

Results are presented for the substrate heating energy/atom required in the planar magnetron sputtering of Al, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo, In, Ta, W, and Pt in Ar, as well as Al and Cr in O2. Data are also obtained for cylindrical magnetron sputtering of Nb, Ag, Ta, W, and Pb-Sn in Ar, and Mo sputtered in Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe. Planar and cylindrical magnetron heating rates were comparable. Special experiments were conducted to examine the contributions to substrate heating of plasma species and ion neutralization and reflection at the cathode; the results obtained indicate that charged plasma species do not significantly contribute to the heating, but that neutralized and reflected ions play a significant role in the planar as well as cylindrical cases despite the differences in cathode geometry.

Thornton, J. A.↗

Cellular-dendritic transition in directionally solidified binary alloys

The microstructural development of binary alloys during directional solidification is studied. Cellular growth data for the Al-Cu and Pb-Sn binary alloy systems are analyzed in order evaluate the criteria of Kurz and Fisher (1981) and Trivedi (1984) for cellular-dendritic transition. It is observed that the experimental growth values do not correlate with the Kurz and Fisher or Trivedi data.

Tewari, S. N.↗

Local convective flows in partly solidified alloys

Channel formation in a dendritic mushy zone is examined with reference to experimental results obtained for an acqueous system, NH4Cl-H2O, and a low-melting metallic system, Pb-Sn. The problems of channel nucleation, propagation, and prevention are considered for a configuration in which heat flow is directed downwards and growth occurs upwards into a positive temperature gradient. It is found that channels nucleate at the growth front by double diffusive perturbations into the quiescent bulk liquid, and not by perturbations within the dendritic framework of the mushy zone.

Hellawell, A.↗

Computer simulation of macrosegregation in directionally solidified circular ingots

The formulation and employment of a computer code designed to simulate the directional solidification of lead-rich Pb-Sn alloys in the form of an ingot with a uniform and circular cross-section are described. The formulation is for steady-state solidification in which convection in the all-liquid zone is ignored. Particular attention was given to designing a code to simulate the effect of a subtle variation of temperature in the radial direction. This is important because a very small temperature difference between the center and the surface of the ingot (e.g., less than 0.5 C ) is enough to cause substantial convection within the mushy-zone when the solidification rate is approximately 0.001 to 0.0001 cm/s.

Yeum, K. S.↗

Primary arm spacing in directionally solidified Pb-10 wt percent Sn alloys

The dependence of primary arm spacings on growth speed was investigated for cellular and dendritic arrays in Pb-10 wt percent Sn samples directionally solidified under a constant positive thermal gradient in the melt. The gradient of constitutional supercooling was varied from almost zero (near the break-down of the planar liquid-solid interface at small growth speeds, cellular morphology) to near unity (large growth speeds, dendritic morphology). The spatial arrangements of cells and dendrites, as given by their coordination number, are not very different from each other. It appears that primary arm spacing maxima and the cell to dendrite transition are strongly influenced by the magnitude of the solute partition coefficient. The planar to cellular bifurcation is supercritical in Pb-Sn which has a high partition coefficient, as compared to the subcritical behavior reported in Al-Cu and succinonitrile-acetone, both of which have low partition coefficients. The primary arm spacing model due to Hunt agrees with the experimentally observed trend for the whole growth regime. There is a good quantitative agreement at higher gradients of supercooling. However, the model overpredicts the primary arm spacings at low gradients of constitutional supercooling.

Chopra, M. A.↗

Primary arm spacing in directionally solidified Pb-10 wt pct Sn alloys

The dependence of primary arm spacings on growth speed was investigated for cellular and dendritic arrays in Pb-10 wt percent Sn samples directionally solidified under a constant positive thermal gradient in the melt. The gradient of constitutional supercooling was varied from almost zero (near the break-down of the planar liquid-solid interface at small growth speeds, cellular morphology) to near unity (large growth speeds, dendritic morphology). The spatial arrangements of cells and dendrites, as given by their coordination number, are not very different from each other. It appears that primary arm spacing maxima and the cell to dendrite transition are strongly influenced by the magnitude of the solute partition coefficient. The planar to cellular bifurction is supercritical in Pb-Sn which has a high partition coefficient, as compared to the subcritical behavior reported in Al-Cu and succinonitrile-acetone, both of which have low partition coefficients. The primary arm spacing model due to Hunt agrees with the experimentally observed trend for the whole growth regime. There is a good quantitative agreement at higher grdients of supercooling. However, the model overpredicts the primary arm spacings at low gradients of constitutional supercooling.

Chopra, M. A.↗

Phase selection during crystallization of undercooled liquid eutectic lead-tin alloys

During rapid solidification substantial amounts of undercooling are in general required for formation of metastable phases. Crystallization at varying levels of undercooling and melting of metastable phases were studied during slow cooling and heating of emulsified PB-Sn alloys. Besides the experimental demonstration of the reversibility of metastable phase equilibra, two different principal solidification paths have been identified and compared with the established metastable phase diagram and predictions from classical nucleation theory. The results suggest that the most probable solidification path is described by the 'step rule' resulting in the formation of metastable phases at low undercooling, whereas the stable eutectic phase mixture crystallizes without metastable phase formation at high undercooling.

Fecht, H. J.↗

Growth-speed dependence of primary arm spacings in directionally solidified Pb-10 wt pct Sn

The dependence of primary arm spacings on growth speed has been investigated for cellular and dendritic arrays in directionally solidified Pb-10 wt pct Sn. The spatial arrangements of cells and dendrites, as given by their coordination number, are not very different from each other. The primary arm spacing maxima and the cell-to-dendrite transition appear to be strongly influenced by the magnitude of the solute partition coefficient (k). The planar-to-cellular transition in Pb-Sn (k = 0.50) is supercritical as compared to the subcritical behavior reported in Al-Cu (k = 0.14) and succinonitrile-acetone (k = 0.1).

Chopra, M. A.↗

Gravitational influence on eutectic solidification

The effect of gravity on eutectic solidification was investigated experimentally for Pb-Sn binary eutectic alloys. It is found that the separation of the primary crystals of the binary system from the coupled eutectic occurs over a wide range of cooling rates and gravitational fields (100-100,000 g). The separation is strongly influenced by the nucleation behavior of the particular alloy system. A mechanism for the strong phase separation is postulated on the basis of cloud convection models in atmospheric convection.

Sokolowski, Robert S.↗

Thermosolutal convection during dendritic solidification of a binary alloy

The FEM model of Heinrich (1988) is presently extended to the case of dendritic vertical solidification under steady-state conditions. An analysis is conducted of the nonlinear governing equations for linear stability, and FEM calculations are performed in cases where instability has been predicted for Pb-Sn melt systems; the results obtained show that the model is more stable than the plane front liquid-solid model, and shows similar, finger-like covection when unstable. It is found that convection in the 'mush' zone is confined to the top of that region; convective motion is driven by convection in the bulk fluid, in the absence of natural convection.

Heinrich, Juan C.↗

Numerical model for dendritic solidification of binary alloys

A finite element model capable of simulating solidification of binary alloys and the formation of freckles is presented. It uses a single system of equations to deal with the all-liquid region, the dendritic region, and the all-solid region. The dendritic region is treated as an anisotropic porous medium. The algorithm uses the bilinear isoparametric element, with a penalty function approximation and a Petrov-Galerkin formulation. Numerical simulations are shown in which an NH4Cl-H2O mixture and a Pb-Sn alloy melt are cooled. The solidification process is followed in time. Instabilities in the process can be clearly observed and the final compositions obtained.

Felicelli, S. D.↗

JOVE: Program Accomplishments and Research Continuation Plans

We designed and constructed a centrifuge for high gravity materials science research. One Master's theses project on the directional solidification of Pb-Sn alloys demonstrated effects of high gravity on the fluid flow at the solid-liquid interface during processing. These results were published. Another investigation applied flow visualization techniques to image flow patterns in a water cell. This activity supported our research proposal for aqueous growth of L-Anginin Phosphate Single Crystals in a high gravity environment. This proposal was well reviewed but ultimately denied funding.

Hmelo, Anthony B.↗

Real Time Characterization of Solid/Liquid Interfaces During Directional Solidification

A X-Ray Transmission Microscope (XTM) has been developed to observe in real time and in-situ solidification phenomenon at the solid/liquid interface. Recent improvements in the horizontal Bridgman furnace design provides real-time magnification (during solidification) up to 12OX. The increased magnification has enabled for the first time the XTM imaging of real-time growth of fibers and particles with diameters of 3-6 micrometers. Further, morphological transitions from planar to cellular interfaces have also been imaged. Results from recent XTM studies on Al-Bi monotectic system, Al-Au eutectic system and interaction of insoluble particles with s/I interfaces in composite materials will be presented. An important parameter during directional solidification of molten metal is the interfacial undercooling. This parameter controls the morphology and composition at the s/I interface. Conventional probes such as thermocouples, due to their large bead size, do not have sufficient resolution for measuring undercooling at the s/I interface. Further, the intrusive nature of the thermocouples also distorts the thermal field at the s/I interface. To overcome these inherent problems we have recently developed a compact furnace which utilizes a non-intrusive technique (Seebeck) to measure undercooling at the S/I interface. Recent interfacial undercooling measurements obtained for the Pb-Sn system will be presented. The Seebeck measurement furnace in the future will be integrated with the XTM to provide the most comprehensive tool for real time characterization of s/I interfaces during solidification.

Sen, S.↗