Evolution of the dendritic morphology with the solidification velocity in rapidly solidified Al-4.5wt.%Cu droplets

Abstract

The microstructure morphology of Al-4.5wt.%Cu droplets formed by the Impulse Atomization technique is investigated. Three-dimensional reconstructions by synchrotron X- ray micro-tomography of several droplets reveal different morphologies in droplets of similar diameter and produced in the same batch. Moreover, microstructural features also indicate that the development of the dendrite arms occurs in some droplets along <111> crystallographic axes instead of the usual <100> directions observed in conventional casting for the same alloy. It has been observed that such an unusual growth direction of the dendrites is directly related to the solidification velocity. We underpin these results by carrying out comparisons with a solidification model. Predictions are used to discuss the change of dendrite growth direction, as well as the existence of a dendrite growth direction range for a given type of droplets. In addition, the effect of the droplet size and the cooling gas on the dendrite growth direction range observed experimentally is also investigated by using the model.