The redistribution of solute atoms during the solidification of metals

Abstract A quantitative analysis is made of the redistribution of solute resulting from solidification in the absence of convection of a binary solution for transient and steady state conditions. Diffusion in the liquid is taken into account and shown to be of importance in determining the solute distribution in both the liquid and the solid. It is shown that the distribution for both normal freezing and zonemelting depends on the rate of solidification. When the speed of solidification is increased abruptly, a band of high solute concentration is formed in the solid; the reverse occurs when the speed is decreased abruptly. Values for the length of the constitutionally supercooled zone of liquid adjacent to a growing solid-liquid interface are calculated.