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Orientation selection in dendritic evolution

Nature Materials volume 5, pages 660–664 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Dendritic crystal growth patterns have fascinated scientists for several centuries. Much of the aesthetic appeal of these patterns stems from the hierarchical structure of primary-, secondary-, and higher-order branches, which typically grow along principal crystallographic axes. Atypical growth directions have also been observed. Here, we demonstrate both computationally and experimentally that the range of possible dendrite growth directions, and hence the morphological diversity of the resulting dendritic structures, is much richer than previously anticipated. In particular, we show that primary dendrite growth directions can vary continuously between different crystallographic directions as a function of the composition-dependent anisotropy parameters. The study combines phase-field simulations of equiaxed dendritic growth and directional freezing of Al–Zn alloys. Both simulations and experiments exhibit continuous changes of direction from 〈100〉 to 〈110〉 for an underlying cubic symmetry. These results have important implications for controlling the microstructure of a wide range of cast alloys that solidify dendritically.

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Figure 1: Orientation selection map from minimum interfacial stiffness.
Figure 2: Equiaxed dendrites and growth directions from phase-field simulations.
Figure 3: Orientation selection map from phase-field simulations.
Figure 4: Columnar dendrites and growth directions from experiments.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract DE-FG02-92ER45471 as well as the DOE Computational Materials Science Network program (T.H. and A.K.). The financial support of the Fonds National Suisse de la recherche scientifique, Bern, Switzerland (Grant No 200021-105144) is also gratefully acknowledged (F.G. and M.R.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Tomorr Haxhimali & Alain Karma

  2. Computational Materials Laboratory, Institute of Materials, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Station 12, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Frédéric Gonzales & Michel Rappaz

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  1. Tomorr Haxhimali
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Correspondence to Alain Karma.

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Haxhimali, T., Karma, A., Gonzales, F. et al. Orientation selection in dendritic evolution. Nature Mater 5, 660–664 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1693

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