Evolution of Specific Surface Area with Solid Volume Fraction During Coalescence with Parabolic Shape Assumption for Dendrite

Abstract

Coalescence of secondary dendrite arms in terms of the evolution of specific surface area for a dendritic envelope with respect to the fraction solid during directional solidification is studied analytically in 2-D and 3-D frame of reference. For 2D case study, the dendritic growth has been captured by gradual penetration of a parabola with fixed tip radius (r) inside a square domain, while for 3D case study, we replace the parabola and square domain for 2-D case with a paraboloid of revolution and cubic domain, respectively. The dimensions of the enclosing volumes are characterized by the secondary dendrite arm-spacing. Coalescence obtained by the analytical solution is compared with existing dendrite growth simulation results obtained by phase-field method.