Steady state columnar and equiaxed growth of dendrites and eutectic

Abstract An analysis is presented for the growth of equiaxed grains ahead of the columnar front during directional solidification. The model considers both single-phase and eutectic equiaxed growth. A simple expression is obtained which predicts when fully equiaxed structures should occur. It is suggested that the model provides a basis for qualitatively discussing equiaxed growth in more complicated casting situations. The effect of equiaxed growth on eutectic spacing is also discussed.