Fluid mechanics of directional solidification at reduced gravity

The primary objective of the proposed research is to provide additional groundbased support for the flight experiment 'Casting and Solidification Technology' (CAST). This experiment is to be performed in the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1) scheduled to be flown on a space shuttle mission scheduled for 1992. In particular, we will provide data on the convective motion and freckle formation during directional solidification of NH4Cl from its aqueous solution at simulated parameter ranges equivalent to reducing the gravity from the sea-level value down to 0.1 g or lower. The secondary objectives of the proposed research are to examine the stability phenomena associated with the onset of freckles and the mechanisms for their subsequent growth and decline (to eventual demise of some) by state-of-the-art imaging techniques and to formulate mathematical models for the prediction of the observed phenomena.