The influence of a microgravity environment on the dendritic morphology during directional solidification of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys

NASA grant NAGW-2540 provided the opportunity to evaluate and extend ongoing studies of directionally solidified Al-Si alloys. Microstructural development was further characterized in terms of solidification processing parameters; novel relationships between processing and development of dendrite trunk diameters and tertiary dendrite arm spacings were found. This has resulted in three publications (one in print, one in press, and one in review). Microstructural development under conditions of controlled acceleration during directional solidification has been investigated; this has culminated in a Master's degree and will be submitted for publication. The above work not only contributes to our understanding of solidification phenomena but also defines the processing parameters for a successful microgravity experiment while providing a data base to which mu g samples can be unequivocally compared and evaluated.