A model for free growth of a lamellar eutectic dendrite with an incident flow.

A model for free growth of a lamellar eutectic dendrite with an incident flow was proposed for the breakdown of a planar solid/liquid interface into a dendritic contour due to a negative thermal gradient in an undercooled liquid. The model was used to predict the growth kinetics of an α-Ni/Ni3Sn eutectic dendrite with and without an incident flow in the growth direction. The modelling showed that free eutectic growth is not sensitive to the tip selection parameter of the eutectic dendrite, but is sensitive to incident flow of magnitude larger than eutectic growth velocities. While the larger incident flow increases the eutectic growth velocities generally, it has opposing effects on the interlamellar spacings depending on undercooling. The prediction of the model awaits experimental validation.This article is part of the theme issue 'From atomistic interfaces to dendritic patterns'.