Numerical simulation of solidification microstructure and effects of phase-field parameters on grain growth morphologies

By a simple phase field model, a series of numerical simulations of solidification microstructure was performed to show a rich variety of dendritic patterns. At the same time, the relation between the morphology-of grain growth and some parameters including the strength of anisotropy, dimensionless latent heat and the size of initial solid zone was studied. It is for the first time that patterns of grain growth were associated with the size of initial solid zone, which is an interesting issue. The possible reason for this may be that variation in the size of initial solid zone may bring about fluctuation of the interface energy, making the interface unstable.