Influence of forced convection on the directional solidification of AlSi alloys: Comparison of experiments and simulation

In order to predict the formation of dendritic microstructure the software package CrysMAS, developed at Fraunhofer IISB, is extended using a multi-scale model based on the work of Wang and Beckermann (1996). The model is validated, by applying it to the directional solidification of AlSi7 under the influence of a Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF). The calculated results are compared to experiments conducted by MICAST partners (Steinbach, 2005). A good correlation between simulation and experiment is found for the macrosegregation caused by the RMF. However, the calculated results for the primary dendrite spacing (PDS) do not correlate well with experimental results.