Time-resolved X-ray Imaging in Studies of Advanced Alloy Solidification Processes

INTRODUCTION During solidification of metallic alloys growth patterns form dynamically at the solid-liquid (s-l) interface as archetypes of self-organization in systems away from equilibrium and belong to non-linear physics. These self-assembly solidification structures evolve in complex processes determined by the transport of heat and mass to and from the different constituents. The transport processes are also influenced and complicated by interacting mechanisms such as convection, solid flow and melt segregation. Physics describing a full scale casting must account for phenomena occurring over lengths from the atomic (interface attachment kinetics, nucleation) to the macroscopic (macro segregation), over a typical time-scale from microseconds (diffusion-controlled growth) to minutes (coarsening), e.g. [1-7].