A non-linear analysis of experiments on the morphological stability of ice cylinders freezing from aqueous solutions

Abstract

A non-linear theory of morphological stability of a solid circular cylinder growing in a supercooled melt is developed and applied to recent experiments on the growth of ice cylinders in distilled water and in aqueous solution. The cylinders develop Φ perturbations in the circular shape and z perturbations parallel to the axes of the cylinders. The theory successfully predicts the growth rate of the z perturbations. The non-linearity arises because the Φ perturbations have grown to a substantial size before the z perturbations are measured. From an analysis of the z perturbation growth rates, a value of 25 mJ/m2 is obtained for the ice-water surface tension on surfaces parallel to the c-axis; the corresponding value obtained from a less-satisfactory linear analysis was 22 mJ/m2. © 1971.