Dendrite fragmentation in alloy solidification due to sidearm pinch-off

Dendrite sidebranch detachment is an important fragmentation mechanism during the solidification of alloys. The detachment occurs at the junction between a sidearm and its parent stem. While this pinching process is driven by capillarity, the presence of solidification opposes the instability. Using a simple numerical model of a single sidearm, we are able to capture the essential dynamics of dendrite sidebranch development and the resulting morphological transitions. While shortly before pinch-off the neck itself obeys well-known universal scaling relations, the overall evolution of the sidearm shape sensitively depends on its initial geometry and the rate of solidification. It is found that pinch-off only occurs over limited ranges of geometrical parameters and cooling rates and is generally bounded by sidearm retraction and coalescence regimes. Simple scaling relations are identified that provide the bounds for the pinch-off regime. Pinching at the branching point is shown to be faster than the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of an infinitely long cylinder.