Multi-dimensional characterization and controlling of microstructure evolution during solidification of metallic alloys

Metallic alloys are important structural and functional materials and have been widely applied in industry. The performance of metallic alloys strongly depends on the microstructures after solidification. Many effective methods are introduced to control the microstructure evolution during solidification, including grain refining, adding rare earth (RE) elements, applying electric current and/or magnetic field, etc. However the inherent mechanisms affecting the microstructure formation are still unclear due to the limitation of real time and multidimensional characterization technique. With the development of the third generation synchrotron radiation light source, a real time imaging technology in 2D (two dimensional) or 3D (three dimensional) view with strong penetrability, high spatial and temporal resolution, nondestructive features has been developed to break those limitations. In this paper, some application cases during solidification performed in our group are reported in different alloys and using different solidification controlling techniques. Different solidification behaviors in those cases are revealed and discussed.