Morphological Instability in Early Stages of Solidification of Pure Metals Part II: Experimental Analysis

Abstract

A simple experimental setup has been used to investigate the morphological instability observed in many solidification processes. It is shown that the mold with smooth surface exhibits prominent thickness nonuniformities. Periodic grooves in the mold surface results in more uniform contact along the mold-shell interface, and therefore leads more uniform growth of the shell. Experimental results for the moving solidification front have also been compared to the results of a simple theoretical model introduced in Part I, and a good agreement has been obtained.