Coarsening of Dendritic Solid-Liquid Mixtures: The Low Volume Fraction Limit

The factors controlling the evolution of interfacial morphology during coarsening in low volume fraction dendritic solid-liquid mixtures remains a mystery. We have shown that experiments performed on the ISS yield a diff e coarsening process in which interfacial evolution is driven solely by interfacial curvature. As a result, the evolution of the structure can be studied free of perturbing effects such as sedimentation and correlated with phase fi simulations. Since dendrite fragments will not sediment significantly for experimental times less than 24 hours, it is possible to assess quantitatively the evolution of the topology of these mixtures, as well as the rate at which the structure breaks up. Thus, these experiments will enable us to address the large host of questions about the coarsening process of low volume fraction dendritic solid-liquid mixtures.