Dendritic to globular morphology transition in ternary alloy solidification

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Metallurgy
• Computational Materials Science

Background:

• Understanding solidification microstructures is crucial for designing metallic alloys with desired properties.
• Ternary metallic alloys exhibit complex solidification behaviors influenced by composition and processing conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the evolution of solidification microstructures in ternary metallic alloys.
• To analyze the morphological transition from dendritic to globular growth.
• To examine the impact of alloy composition on growth velocity and impurity segregation.

Main Methods:

• Adaptive finite element simulations were employed.
• A general multicomponent phase-field model was utilized.
• Simulations were performed at a fixed undercooling while varying alloy composition.

Main Results:

• A morphological transition from dendritic to globular growth was observed with changes in alloy composition.
• The study analyzed the dependence of growth velocity on composition.
• Impurity segregation in the solid phase was found to vary smoothly with composition.

Conclusions:

• Alloy composition is a key factor controlling solidification microstructure morphology.
• A smooth transition between dendritic and globular growth structures exists in these ternary alloys.
• The findings provide insights into controlling microstructure evolution for alloy design.