Gravitational effects on the development of weld-pool and solidification microstructures

摘要

This research effort has as its objective the development of a quantitative understanding of the effects of both low- and high-g environments on the solidification microstructures and morphologies that are produced in alloy single crystals during a variety of melting and solidification processes. The overall goal of the effort is to delineate the nature of the roles played by natural convection, surface-tension-driven convection, and mass transport effects due to interactions associated with various heating methods that are used to form melt pools in practical, commercially important alloy systems. The experimental and theoretical investigations comprising this effort encompass the study of configurations in which stationary heat sources are employed as well as melt pools formed by moving heat sources like those frequently used in fusion-welding processes.