Columnar grain growth pattern with fluid flowing in molten pool

A coupled model was used to simulate columnar grain growth in TIG (tungsten inert-gas) molten pool of nickel base alloy. The cellular automaton algorithm for dendritic growth is incorporated with solute transport model to take fluid flow into consideration. The results indicate that shear flow changes the solute distribution at the S/L (Solid/Liquid) interface, leading to asymmetrical growth of columnar grains. The dendrite arms on the upstream side grow fast, while the growth of dendrite arms on the downstream side is much delayed. However, dendrite arms on both sides are not as well-developed as the grain growth without flow. With inlet flow velocity increasing, the phenomenon becomes more obvious. In addition, shear flow also results in more severe coring segregation.