Effect of far field flow on the spherical crystal in the undercooled melt

Abstract

The influence on the growth morphology of the spherical crystal in the undercooled melt imposed by the far field flow is studied by the asymptotic method. It is shown that the far field flow leads to convection in the melt such that the front interface of a growing spherical crystal grows into the undercooled melt in the opposite direction to the flow and enhances the growth rate in the same direction, while the back interface of the growing spherical crystal decays. On the other hand, the front interface of a shrinking spherical crystal further decays, and the back interface of the shrinking spherical crystal decays slower.