Numerical Simulation of Binary Alloy Crystal Growth Using Phase-Field Method

The competitive growth of multiple dendrites and crystal growth of directional solidification in a Mg-Al binary alloy were simulated using phase-field model, and the effect of undercooling value on the microstructural dendritic growth pattern in directional solidification process was studied in the paper. The simulation results showed the impingement of the adjacent grains, which made the dendrite growth inhibited in the competitive growth of multiple dendrites, and in directional solidification process, quantitative comparison of different undercooling values that predicted the columnar dendrite evolution were carried out. With the increasing of the undercooling value, the dendrite tip radius and second dendrite arms became smaller, and the crystal structure is more uniform and dense.