Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Crystal Growth

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrysgro

Wave dynamics on directional solidification interfaces swept by a flow

in a thin sample
Tania Jiang, Marc Georgelin, Alain Pocheau n
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, IRPHE UMR 7342, 13384 Marseille, France

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Available online 22 September 2014 The effects of a transverse flow on the dynamics of a directional solidification interface are studied
Keywords: experimentally in a thin sample. The set-up enables a non-intrusive visualization of the interface and an
A1. Directional solidification independent control of both the flow and the solidification conditions. The flow is forced in the sample
A1. Fluid flows from an external thermosiphon which provides an accurate steady velocity up to 1.2 mm/s. A
A1. Convection transparent melt of succinonitrile is used with a sample depth allowing the solidification of a single
A1. Wave layer of microstructures. Downstream inclinations of microstructures and downstream promotion of
A1. Thin sample dendritic sidebranching are observed. Surprisingly, large scale traveling waves involving a wavelength of
A1. Striation several cells or dendrites are evidenced on the interface in a large range of conditions. Two kinds of
waves are evidenced, one involving a slow velocity, a weak amplitude and a sinusoidal profile, the other
a large velocity, a large amplitude and a non-linear profile. Both result from the coupling between
solidification and flow and induce striations in the solid phase.
& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction inclination and on the asymmetry of dendritic sidebranching.

Solidification of a melt in a thermal gradient usually goes
together with the generation of flows by thermal or thermosolutal
convection. In addition, some flows may be forced by external
means, for instance by seed rotation in Czochralski process [1] or
by magnetic stirring [2]. These flows then mix the liquid medium
and may even yield dendrite fragmentation and transport of seeds
away from the interface. Altogether they thus largely participate to
the history of the structure and the composition of the resulting
solid and have accordingly received considerable attention. How-
ever, another possible effect of flows on solidification is the
generation of new instabilities by a coupling between a flow and
a solidifying interface. In particular, as the solid phase imposes a
boundary condition to the flow, the deformation of the solidifying
interface may modify the flow which in turn may interfere with
the interface dynamics by solute advection. On this ground, a
possible stabilization of planar interfaces by flows has long been
predicted for some directions of perturbations and flow geome-
tries [3] and has received some support from experiments [4–6].
Farther from the onset of planar destabilization, a direct effect of
flows on microstructure has been investigated on microstructure
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 33 413552053.
E-mail address: alain.pocheau@irphe.univ-mrs.fr (A. Pocheau).
However, no coupled instability for a set of growing microstruc-
tures and a flow seemed to have been predicted or evidenced
so far.
Here, our objective has been to carefully study the dynamic
coupling between a directional solidification interface and a flow
in well controlled conditions. For this, we used a thin sample in
which natural convection is inhibited by dissipation due to the
large viscous stresses displayed at the plates that sandwich the
melt. This way, only forced flows could be induced with no
opportunity of natural perturbation. In addition, thin samples
allow a direct, non-perturbative, visualization of the solidification
interface of transparent melts and thus an easy detection of
dynamical events. Here, we used a transparent succinonitrile melt
and flows externally generated by a thermosiphon. Altogether, this
enabled us to evidence the generation of interfacial waves by
coupling between flow and solidification interface [7]. Two kinds
of waves have been distinguished and their main features have
been documented. Both yield the generation of periodic modula-
tions in the solid phase that resemble the striations sometimes
observed in cast materials.
In the following, we first detail in Section 1 the experimental
set-up used in this study and in Section 2 its specificity regarding
the onset of planar instability. We then report in Section 3 on the
effects of flows on microstructure inclinations and on sidebranch-
ing asymmetry. In Section 4, we address the main result of this

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2014.09.026
0022-0248/& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
38 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43
study, the evidence of flow-induced interfacial waves, and we
document their main features. We finally discuss the relevance of
these results and conclude about this study.
The experimental set-up is designed to achieve directional
solidification in homogeneous and controlled conditions [8–10]
together with a permanent visualization of the interface dynamics.
To this aim, solidification proceeds in thin samples that are filled
with a transparent material and whose depth corresponds to the
typical thickness of a layer of microstructures. Samples are then
pushed at a controlled speed in between heaters and coolers that
set a uniform thermal gradient (Fig. 1a). Heaters and coolers are
made of top and bottom metallic blocks that are electronically
regulated at 100 1C and 10 1C respectively to an accuracy better
than 0.1 1C . They yield a thermal gradient G of either 70 K cm  1 or
140 K cm  1 on the solidification interface, depending on the gap
imposed between the blocks by suitable spacers. The pushing
stage is provided by a micro-stepper motor which drives a linear
ball-screw attached to a translating stage. Pushing velocities up to
50 μm s  1 may be achieved with a relative accuracy better than
73% on long duration.
Samples consist of two glass plates separated by spacers. They
are filled with the mixture to solidify, here a dilute alloy of
succinonitrile with acrylonitrile as solute. As the melting tempera-
ture of succinonitrile is 58 1C when pure, the solidification inter-
face sets around the middle of the gap between heaters and
coolers. This ensures that the sample translation negligibly modi-
fies the thermal gradient on the interface [11]. Samples are wide
(4.5 cm) and long (15 cm) enough to provide solidification
domains far from boundary disturbances. Their thickness was
chosen small enough to avoid the emergence of a second layer
of microstructures and large enough to provide a 3D behavior of
microstructures. This ensured that microstructures behave similar
to those of a multi-layer solidification, in particular regarding
forms [12,13], undercooling [12,14], sidebranching [8] or instabil-
ities [15]. Thanks to the transparency of the filled sample,
visualization of the solidification interface is achieved from the
slight optical aberrations undergone by a parallel light beam
crossing the sample, which reveal the interface as a sharp contrast
line. The corresponding images are recorded by a camera involving
1024  768 pixels. In the grooves, images sometimes show dark
channels which correspond to a gaseous phase that does not
couple with the interface dynamics.
Fig. 1. (a) Sketch of the usual solidification set-up. A motor pushes a sample within
a thermal gradient induced by heaters and coolers. Observation is achieved by
ombroscopy on a parallel light beam crossing the sample at the interface location.
(b) Thermosiphon added to force a controlled flow U in the sample. This flow
sweeps the solidification interface and induces, above a growth velocity V, a
coupled solidification-hydrodynamic instability that yields traveling waves and
striations (Fig. 3).
To improve the microstructure homogeneity, care has been
taken to prepare the sample in a single crystal state. This has been
achieved by making a selected grain invade the whole sample by a
spatial control of fusion/solidification prior to the sample insertion
in the experimental set-up. The chosen orientation was such that
the principal axes of the cubic crystal of succinonitrile were
aligned on the thermal gradient direction, the mean interface
direction and the cell depth. Control of the orientation was
achieved from the symmetry displayed by the sidebranches of
freely growing germs and of dendrites rapidly growing in a
thermal gradient.
An interesting feature of thin samples is to inhibit natural
convection owing to the large viscous dissipation imposed by their
small depth. This situation, which forbids the occurrence of
spurious uncontrolled flows, is thus especially suitable for achiev-
ing a control of flows. It however requires forcing flows either
mechanically by moving solid parts or hydrodynamically by
injecting flows. Here, we preferred using the latter mean owing
to the difficulty in controlling mechanical parts in a thin sample. In
addition, we looked for a permanent continuous injection in
contrast with the discrete injections used in [6]. This was provided
by connecting the sample to an external thermosiphon that is
known to induce low amplitude controlled flows in similar
configurations [16]. It consists in two vertical branches that are
differentially heated so that the fluid is lighter in one vertical
branch than in the other. These branches are then connected to
each side of the sample by flexible tubes to yield a closed circuit.
They then provide a hydrostatic pressure difference between the
two sides of the sample that sets the fluid into motion in between.
Within the sample, the flow is then parallel to the solidification
interface (Fig. 1b) and, following the small sample depth d, it
stands in a Stokes regime with a Reynolds number Re ¼ dU=ν of
order 10  3 in our range, ν denoting the fluid kinematic viscosity
and U the flow amplitude. It then displays a Poiseuille profile.
A simple modeling of the thermosiphon can be obtained from
the Navier–Stokes equation in the Stokes regime by considering its
circulation along a streamline.
I I I
 ∇p dl þ ρg dlþ μΔv dl ¼ 0 ð1Þ
where p denotes the fluid pressure, ρ the fluid volumic mass, μ the
fluid dynamic viscosity, g the acceleration of gravity and v the fluid
velocity. The circuit being horizontal, except in the thermosiphon,
the contribution of gravity reduces to the differential effects of
thermal dilation in the thermosiphon branches. Following the
Poiseuille flow profile, the contribution of dissipation is propor-
tional to the constant net mass flow D. The proportionality factor,
called the hydrodynamic resistance Rh, depends on the geometry
of the cross section. As the circulation of the pressure gradient
vanishes, one finally obtains :
ρ0 αΔTgH ¼ D∑Rh;i ð2Þ
i
where ρ0, α, H and ΔT are the fluid volumic mass at the freezing
temperature, its thermal dilation factor, the length of the thermo-
siphon branches and their temperature difference. The index “i”
labels the different parts of the closed loop and Rh;i stands for their
hydrodynamical resistance. In particular, for a cylindrical section of
length lc and diameter Dc, one gets Rh ¼ 128=πμlc Dc 4 and for the
rectangular liquid domain ahead of the interface of length L, width
3
l and depth d, Rh ¼ 12μd L  1 l. The net mass flow D and thus the
flow amplitude U are then directly proportional to the tempera-
ture difference between the thermosiphon branches. This ensures
their accurate tune, independent of the growth conditions. With a
maximum temperature difference of ΔT ¼ 32 1C, one obtains this
way a maximal flow amplitude ranging experimentally from
300 μm s  1 at d ¼ 150 μm to 1200 μm s  1 at d ¼ 400 μm. We
 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43
note that it keeps low enough to enable the fluid coming from the
thermosiphon to equilibrate its temperature with the surrounding
medium before entering the solidification domain.
Direct measurements of the mixture properties provided a sol-
utal diffusivity D ¼ 13507 50 μm2 s  1 and a partition coefficient
K¼ 0.2970.05 [8]. The flow amplitude was determined from the
advection of tiny particles observed in the liquid phase and was
found to agree with the value estimated from the thermosiphon
model. The typical ranges of the experiment were the following:
fixed thermal gradient G ¼ 70 K cm  1 or G ¼ 140 K cm  1 , micro-
structure spacings Λ about 50–200 μm, pushing velocities V up to
50 μm s  1 and flow velocities U up to 1200 μm s  1 .
2. Onset of planar instability and homogeneity
When increasing the growth velocity V at a fixed flow ampli-
tude U, we observed front destabilization into cells first near the
flow exit and then closer to the entrance. On a range of growth
velocities, the front was thus splitted into a destabilized part on
the exit side and a still stable part on the entrance side. The
destabilized part invaded the stable part as V increases until the
whole front became unstable. At a given location, the growth
velocity at which the front destabilizes grew with the flow
amplitude U almost linearly.
According to these observations, front destabilization was an
inhomogeneous process, presumably because of the specific con-
ditions imposed at the flow entrance. To model this effect, we
consider a fluid particle at the flow entrance and follow it during
its advection by the flow U towards the exit. Meanwhile, it is filled
with solute rejection by the interface and with solute diffusion
from the surrounding medium. Assuming that the evolution of
solute concentration on the x-direction parallel to the interface
takes place on a larger scale le than on the growth direction z, i.e.
le b lD ¼ D=V, we may neglect diffusion on the x-direction com-
pared to that on the z-direction. The advected fluid particle then
experiences the same evolution of concentration than a steady
particle on a starting solidification front, the correspondence
between space and time being x¼ Ut. As the built-up of a diffusive
layer takes place on a characteristic time-scale τ ¼ K  1 D=V 2 , the
length scale le over which the fluid particle reaches an asymptotic
value of solute concentration reads le ¼ K  1 DU=V 2 .
On the other hand, as the cell depth is, in our experimental
range, smaller or at least of the same order than the diffusion
length lD ¼ D=V, the concentration field is homogeneous in the
depth direction. This legitimates a depth-averaged analysis of the
solutal field dynamics according to which the depth-averaged
value U ¼ 2U=3 of the flow has to be used instead of its maximal
value U. In agreement with a slow spatial variation of concentra-
tion on the x-direction, we may now invoke the supercooling
criterion locally at each front location. As the concentration on the
planar front raises from c1 at the flow entrance to c1 =K far from it
when the front has relaxed to equilibrium, one then concludes
that the critical velocity then decreases from V c =K near the flow
entrance to Vc far from it, Vc denoting the usual critical velocity at
nominal concentration c1 . Although this could be easily antici-
pated, the important thing is that this relaxation of local critical
velocity occurs on the length scale le ¼ K  1 DU=V 2 which may thus
be taken as the entrance length of the system. For a typical mean
flow amplitude of 100 μm s  1 and a velocity of about 3:5 μm s  1
at the onset of planar velocity, le is about 7 cm, i.e. larger than the
sample width. Then, the whole front involves a convective–
diffusive layer which departs from the usual diffusive layer that
would only be recovered at larger distance from the flow entrance.
This spatial transient effect means that the system remains
inhomogeneous at all time in this velocity regime. This therefore
39
prevents to study the sole effect of flow advection on the planar
front instability [3]. We note, however, that this limitation is not
specific to our experimental configuration but is common to all
those that involve a localized flow entrance at a definite solute
concentration.
Nevertheless, farther from onset, when microstructures have
developed, their mean interface stands at higher temperature,
closer to the liquidus line. Following the heuristic view of Brody,
Bower and Flemmings (BBF) [17], the mean solidification front
then rejects a diffusive flux similar to that of an effective planar
front located at the same place. It may thus be affected with an
effective partition coefficient close to unity. In this case, the
entrance length le ¼ K  1 DU=V 2 decreases first because of the raise
of K and also because of the raise of the growth velocity V. At
V ¼ 10 μm s  1 , it then falls to less than 3 mm and may thus be
neglected compared to the sample width, 15 times larger. Accord-
ingly, the system accommodates quickly the entrance condition in
the cellular and dendritic regimes so that their dynamics will
actually be relevant to those of an infinitely large solidification
interface, swept by a uniform flow.
3. Forms close to onset
For any sweeping flow U, we shall see that a wavy dynamics of the
solidification interface occurs above some growth velocity V(U).
Beyond it, the forms and the sidebranching dynamics of microstruc-
tures are then dominated by the wave modulations. On the opposite,
below it, the cells and dendrites that appear closer to onset involve a
steady tip temperature, as without flow. The implication of a sweeping
flow on their forms may then be considered in comparison to those
displayed without flow.
Two major changes in form are noticeable. First an inclination
of microstructures towards the downstream direction with an
angle α that increases with U and decreases with V. This is
displayed in Fig. 2 on both cells (a) and dendrites (b) for the same
flow amplitude but different growth velocities. Cells then display a
larger inclination (4.3 1) than dendrites (1.2 1). This angle of
inclination increases almost linearly with the ratio U/V as shown
in Fig. 2c. The second change implied by the flow is an asymmetry
of sidebranching, sidebranches on the downstream side of the
dendrite being promoted (Fig. 2c).
Fig. 2. Downstream inclination and sidebranch asymmetry. G ¼ 70 K cm  1 , U ¼ 140
μm s  1 . (a) V ¼ 6 μm s  1 . Cells with an inclination α ¼ 4:3 1. (b) V ¼ 18 μm s  1 .
Dendrites with an inclination α¼ 1.2 1 and downstream sidebranching. (c) Increase of
the inclination angle α with U/V.
40 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43

4. Interfacial waves features
Beyond some growth velocity V that depends on U, a spectacular
phenomenon with major implications on the interface form and on
segregation sets in. It consists in the occurrence of interfacial waves
propagating downstream and which make the microstructures under-
cooling periodically vary as waves pass through (Fig. 3). Microstruc-
tures tips thus move back and forth in the thermal gradient, together
with noticeable changes of their form that imprint the solid phase.
These waves involve a large wavelength compared to the
microstructure width. They thus correspond to a collective oscilla-
tion of many cells or dendrites. Surprisingly, two distinct types of
waves are in order, which may sometimes coexist despite their
differences. One involves almost sinusoidal oscillations with small
amplitudes (Figs. 3a and 4a) ; the other involves mostly large
amplitudes and non-linear oscillations (Figs. 3b and 4b). However,
their most different feature is their velocities C which is small for
the former wave and large for the latter wave. Accordingly, we
shall denote them slow wave and rapid wave respectively.
Figs. 3 and 4 show snapshots of these traveling waves on about
several wavelengths and a wavelength respectively. They highlight the
difference of forms outlined above, the slow wave being nearly
sinusoidal (a) and the rapid wave non-linear with a marked asymmetry
(b). Interestingly, the periodic modulations brought about on micro-
structures leave permanent structures in the solid phase. They appear as
striations that may yield important implications on microsegregation.
We report below on the domain of existence of both kinds of
waves and on their main features. We shall index slow wave by “s”
and rapid wave by “r”.
4.1. Phase diagram
Fig. 6 shows the experimental scan of the parametric space (U,V)
performed at a thermal gradient G ¼ 70 K cm  1 . It enables us to
distinguish several domains referring to small wave alone, rapid wave
alone, a coexistence of these waves or an absence of any wave. It then
appears that, in the scanned domain, rapid waves are the dominant
waves. They exist on a bounded range of growth velocity V that
increases with the flow amplitude U.
Close to onset, there also exists slow waves on a much shorter
range of velocity V which shrinks when reducing the flow amplitude
U. These waves, possibly important for the modeling following their
sinusoidal nature, therefore appear in practice somewhat as marginal
in comparison to the rapid waves. Interestingly, they however
involve a coexistence domain with the rapid wave as evidenced in
Fig. 5. This double wavy solution provides a definite show-up of their
differences for the same growth parameters. In particular, Fig. 5
reveals two kinds of striations that differ by their inclinations. This
will be linked in Section 4.2.4 to the differences in wave velocities.
The phase diagram of Fig. 6 reveals no upper bound in the
scanned domain. This suggests that waves may exist for any flow
amplitudes U and an ever increasing growth velocity so that they
might occur in a number of practical situations. On the other hand,
wave occurrence involves a slight transient of a few diffusion
times when putting on the pushing velocity V or the flow
magnitude U. They thus correspond to a robust phenomenon that
quickly sets in on a large range of growth conditions, as soon as a
sweeping flow is in order.
4.2. Wave features
4.2.1. Period
Despite their differences, both waves surprisingly show the
same period TðV ; UÞ. In addition, this period evolves with the
growth velocity V so that the length δ ¼ VT is a constant,
independent of U, as displayed in Fig. 7. The common length δ
amounts to about 350 μm here. It stands geometrically as the
distance of successive iso-phase events along the heat flow

Fig. 3. Traveling waves on a solidification interface at flow velocity U ¼ 306 μm s  1 and sample depth e ¼ 150 μm. Flow goes from right to left. Iso-phase lines of waves
provide repetitive modulations in the solid phase. (a) Slow wave, G ¼ 70 K cm  1 , V ¼ 6 μm s  1 , (b) rapid wave, G ¼ 140 K cm  1 , V ¼ 16 μm s  1 .

Fig. 4. Wave profile and implications on the solid phase. Flow goes from right to left. G ¼ 70 K cm  1 , e ¼ 150 μm : (a) slow wave, U ¼ 306 μm s  1 , V ¼ 6 μm s  1 , (b) rapid
wave, U ¼ 229 μm s  1 , V ¼ 16 μm s  1 . Both waves yield striation in the solid phase due to the periodic modification of microstructures.
 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43
Fig. 5. Coexistence of both kinds of waves, G ¼ 70 K cm  1 , V ¼ 10 μm:s  1 , U ¼ 306 μm s  1 . Flow goes from right to left. Striations with different inclinations are noticeable in
the solid phase. The largest inclinations are provided by the slow wave and the smallest inclinations by the rapid wave.
Fig. 6. Domain of existence of waves as a function of growth velocity V and flow
intensity U at G ¼ 70 K cm  1 . The planar instability, which is observed in the
middle of the sample, shows a slight raise with U.
Fig. 7. The length δ ¼ VT, where the period TðU; VÞ is the same for both waves, is
displayed at G ¼ 70 K cm  1 : (a) as a function of V; (b) as a function of U. This length
δ ¼ VT appears to be an almost invariant of the system.
direction z. Interestingly, this corresponds in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 to the
distance between iso-phase lines in the direction normal to the
interface, i.e. between successive striations, as far as no other
dynamics is involved. This is the case far from the interface where
groove solidification is completed but not close to it where
microstructures still evolve. Anyway, the existence of this
41
universal invariant δ, independent of growth conditions (e.g. flow
amplitude U, sample depth d), of growth regimes (e.g. V), of
microstructures features (e.g. cells or dendrites, microstructure
spacing) and of the kind of waves, is actually puzzling. In
particular, it leaves open the issue of the relevant length scales
to which relate this invariant length scale.
4.2.2. Velocity
As claimed above, the wave velocities largely differ either at the
same parameters or by their mean order of magnitude.
Those of short waves, Cs, keep below the low value 40 μm s  1 ,
whatever the pushing velocity and the flow magnitude. They seem
rather independent of the growth velocity V (Fig. 8a), but the
relevant velocity range is nevertheless small to definitely conclude.
Although the range of variation of Cs is short, it seems to rise with
U towards an asymptote in Fig. 8b.
In comparison, the velocity Cr of rapid waves is usually
significantly larger, ranging from 50 to 400 μm s  1 in our experi-
mental domain. Whereas Cr shows no noticeable variation with V
(Fig. 8a), it displays a linear variation with U as C r  0:4U (Fig. 8b).
Taking either the maximal flow velocity U or its depth averaged
U ¼ 2U=3, it thus remains that Cr is smaller than any of these flow
intensities. Accordingly, although rapid waves propagate down-
stream in the flow direction, they always travel at a significantly
smaller speed than either the flow or the mean flow.
4.2.3. Wavelength
Following the existence of the invariant δ, the wavelength λ of
waves writes λ ¼ CT ¼ ðC=VÞδ. As shown in Fig. 9, this simple
relationship well agrees with data for both waves on the whole
observation range and yields a refined value of δ : δ ¼ 366 μm. As
may be seen in this figure, the appropriate unit for λ, the
millimeter, stresses the large wavelength of waves compared to
microstructure width (about 50–200 μm). In addition, the wave-
lengths of rapid waves appear far larger than those of slow waves,
in agreement with Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
4.2.4. Inclination and distance of striations lines
Striation lines correspond to the iso-phase lines of a wave that
propagates at velocity C along the interface in a frame that moves
at velocity V in the normal direction. They therefore display in the
solid phase an inclination of angle θ ¼ arctanðV=CÞ. Following it,
the actual distance d between striation lines that would be
measured post-mortem in the solid phase would vary as
d ¼ δ cos ðθÞ ¼ δ ð1 þV 2 =C 2 Þ  1=2 . Interestingly, knowing the value
of the invariant δ in a material, the size d of its segregation bands
would allow the post-mortem determination of the ratio V/C. On
the rapid waves, this would provide in addition the ratio V/U, using
the relationship Cr  0.4 U evidenced on this kind of waves
(Fig. 8b).
42 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43
Fig. 8. Wave velocity C for both kinds of waves as a function of V at fixed U ¼
306 mm s  1 (a) and as a function of U at various V (b). Whereas C appears
independent of V for both waves, it rises as 0:4 U on rapid waves.
Fig. 9. Wavelength λ as a function of C/V for both waves. As λ ¼ CT ¼ ðC=V Þδ, a linear
fit yields δ ¼ 366 μm.
5. Discussion
In our experiment, the sweeping flow makes cells and dendrites
incline downward and promotes downward dendritic sidebranching.
Regarding inclination, this contrasts with several observations for
which an upstream inclination was found: in thin samples, in either a
SCN-acetone alloy [6], a cyclohexanol alloy [18] or a Ga-In alloy [19],
and also in large domains in an Al–Cu alloy [20]. However, we notice
that a downstream inclination of cells followed by an upstream
inclination of dendrites was noticed in a thin sample of a SCN-
acetone alloy [4] and that in a crucible of a SCN-water alloy a
downstream inclination of cells was found [21]. Regarding dendritic
sidebranching, our results also differ from the literature since in thin
samples a promotion of sidebranching on the upstream side was
reported in either a SCN-acetone alloy [4], a cyclohexanol alloy [18]
or a Ga-In alloy [19]. However, we also stress that a sidebranch
promotion on the downstream side of dendrites was noticed in a
thin sample of a SCN-acetone alloy [6].
Accordingly, although upstream inclination and upstream pro-
motion of sidebranching is usually reported, the reverse tendency is
also found, as in the present experiment. Actually, both cases may
be achieved depending on whether the flow penetrates largely or
weakly in the microstructures grooves. In the former case, solute
iso-concentration lines are compressed on the upstream side of
microstructures yielding a promotion of growth and thus both an
inclination and an enhanced sidebranching. In the latter case, flow
only advects the poor-solute liquid surrounding microstructure tips
on the downstream direction which, after diffusion in the grooves,
induces inclination and sidebranch promotion on this downstream
side. More detailed analysis of each configuration is thus required to
converge towards a synthetic understanding of the effects of flows
on microstructure form and direction.
The novel phenomena revealed by our experiment are the
generation of interfacial traveling waves when a flow sweeps the
solidification interface in the cellular or dendritic regime. These
waves make the microstructure undercooling oscillate with notice-
able implications on their forms and on the microsegregation in the
solid phase. In particular, waves induce a striation of the solid phase
in the form of equally distant lines which correspond to iso-phase
lines of the waves. Their inclination depends on the ratio of the
growth velocity to the wave velocity. As this phenomenon is robust,
spectacular and dominant in our experimental range, one may
wonder whether it could be at the origin of the striations some-
times observed in post-mortem analysis of cast materials.
On the fundamental ground, these waves, which travel down-
stream are analogous to the waves predicted on a planar front by
linear analysis [3]. However, they occur here on cellular or
dendritic interfaces and involve two kinds of waves with distinct
features, especially their velocity. They thus refer to a non-linear
phenomenon and display non-linear features, in particular an
asymmetric triangular profile for the rapid waves. Some progress
in the non-linear modeling of the solidification-flow interaction
will thus be required to understand their mechanism. Interest-
ingly, we note that waves involve a universal, constant length, the
distance between their striation lines in the thermal gradient
direction, which will be a landmark for the understanding of their
underlying mechanism.
6. Conclusion
We have worked out an experiment which gathers directional
solidification in thin sample and flow generation in well controlled
conditions. This enabled us to point out the influence length of the
flow entrance condition and to evidence both downstream incli-
nation of microstructures and downstream promotion of dendritic
sidebranches. However, the major and most original outcome of
our experiment is the evidence of two kinds of large scale
traveling waves induced by the flow. Both waves differ mainly
by their velocity, the quickest one being by far the most present in
the scanned domain. While these waves move downstream, they
induce a large change of microstructure undercooling together
with a strong modification of microstructure form which results in
a striation of the material. Progress in the modeling of the
interaction between solidification and flow is required to uncover
the mechanisms that generate these waves and clarify their
relevance to usual casting in large system.
 T. Jiang et al. / Journal of Crystal Growth 417 (2015) 37–43
Acknowledgments
Région PACA provided financial support through the open
project ENEMS (Etude Numérique et Expérimentale des Micro-
structures de Solidification) grant number OTP35330.
References
[1] H.J. Scheel, J. Cryst. Growth 211 (2000) 1–12.
[2] P. Desnain, Y. Fautrelle, J.-L. Meyer, J.-P. Riquet, F. Durand, Acta. Mater. 38
(1990) 1513–1523.
[3] R.T. Delves, J. Cryst. Growth 8 (1971) 13–25;
S.R. Coriell, G.B. McFadden, R.F. Boisvert, R.F. Sekerka, J. Cryst. Growth 69
(1984) 15–22.
[4] T. Huang, S. Liu, Y. Yang, D. Lu, Y. Zhou, J. Cryst. Growth 128 (1993) 167–172.
[5] S.N. Tewari, M.A. Chopra, J. Cryst. Growth 118 (1992) 183–192.
[6] M. Zhang, T. Maxworthy, J. Fluid Mech. 470 (2002) 247–268.
[7] T. Jiang, M. Georgelin, A. Pocheau, Europhys. Lett. 102 (2013) 54002–p6.
43
[8] M. Georgelin, A. Pocheau, Phys. Rev. E 57 (1998) 3189–3203.
[9] J. Deschamps, M. Georgelin, A. Pocheau, Europhys. Lett. 76 (2006) 291–297;
A. Pocheau, J. Deschamps, M. Georgelin, JOM 59 (2007) 71–76.
[10] J. Deschamps, M. Georgelin, A. Pocheau, Phys. Rev. E 78 (2008) 011605-13.
[11] A. Pocheau, S. Bodea, M. Georgelin, Phys. Rev. E 80 (2009) 031601-23.
[12] S. Gurevich, A. Karma, M. Plapp, R. Trivedi, Phys. Rev. E 81 (2010) 011603-15.
[13] A. Pocheau, M. Georgelin, Phys. Rev. E 73 (2006) 011604-18.
[14] A. Pocheau, M. Georgelin, J. Cryst. Growth 206 (1999) 215–229.
[15] J. Ghmadh, J.-M. Debierre, J. Deschamps, M. Georgelin, R. Guérin, A. Pocheau,
Acta Mater. 74 (2014) 255–267.
[16] A. Pocheau, V. Croquette, P. Le Gal, C. Poitou, Europhys. Lett. 8 (1987) 915–920.
[17] T.F. Bower, H.D. Brody, M.C. Flemings, Trans. Metall. Soc. AIME 236 (1966)
624–634.
[18] T. Okamoto, K. Kishitake, J. Cryst. Growth 29 (1975) 131–136.
[19] S. Boden, S. Eckert, G. Gerbeth, Mater. Lett. 64 (2010) 1340–1343.
[20] K. Murakami, T. Fujiyama, A. Koike, T. Okamoto, Acta Metall. 31 (1983)
1425–1432.
[21] C. Weiss, N. Bergeon, N. Mangelinck-Noël, B. Billia, Phys. Rev. E 79 (2009)
011605-9.