On dendritic growth in undercooled melts

The role of gravity-dependent convection in the steady-state growth of dendrites in undercooled melts is investigated theoretically. The model described by Huang and Glicksman (1981) is extended and refined, using the concept of a thermal diffusion boundary layer (Burton et al., 1987) to characterize the dendritic interface. Theoretical predictions are presented in graphs and shown to be in good general agreement with published experimental data on succinonitrile. The need for careful space experiments to clarify the role of nongravity-dependent convection is indicated.