Thermal diffusion dominated dendritic growth - An analysis of the wall proximity effect

It is demonstrated that using a simple correction to the original Ivantsov solution to account for wall proximity effects is sufficient to describe the Peclet number microgravity data of Glicksman et al. [M.E. Glicksman, M.B. Koss and E.A. Winsa, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 (1994) 573; M.E. Glicksman, M.B. Koss, L.T. Bushnell, J.C. LaCombe and E.A. Winsa, ISLJ International 35 (1995) 1216; MRS Fall Meeting, Symp. P, Boston MA, 1995, in press] at low supercooling. The analytical correction provides for the enhanced diffusive heat transfer when the thermal diffusion length becomes comparable to the physical chamber dimension. The wall proximity effect is also responsible for the existence of a lower supercooling limit below which the dendrite cannot grow in a steady-state manner. It is concluded that Glicksman's USMP-2 microgravity data is thermal diffusion dominated and thus entirely appropriate for comparison with dendritic growth theories.