Study of Eutectic Formation

The objectives of this program are to determine the influence of convection on the microstructure of eutectics and to develop a technique for revealing the longitudinal microstructure of the MnBi-Bi eutectic. Both objectives aim at trying to explain the observed influence of space processing on the microstructure of MnBi-Bi. A computer program was developed and used to determine the concentration field in front of a growing lamellar eutectic. From this the deviation of the interfacial concentration from the eutectic composition was calculated as a function of eutectic composition, freezing rate, convection, and lamellar spacing.