Three dimensional dendritic morphology and orientation transition induced by high static magnetic field in directionally solidified Al-10 wt.%Zn alloy

Effect of high static magnetic field on the dendritic morphology and growth direction in directionally solidified Al-10 wt.%Zn alloy were studied by three-dimensional (3D)X-ray micro-computed tomography, Electron Back-scattered Diffraction (EBSD)and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The application of high static axial magnetic field (5T)during directional solidification was found to destabilize the solid/liquid interface and cause the growth direction of dendrite deviate from thermal gradient, leading to irregular solid/liquid interfacial shape and cellular to dendritic morphology transition. The thermoelectric magnetic convection (TEMC)caused by the interaction of thermoelectric effect and magnetic field was supposed to be responsible for the transition. In addition, the EBSD and XRD results confirm that the preferred growth direction of α-Al was found to transform from the traditionally expected <100> to <110>. The dendrite orientation transition (DOT)in Al-10 wt.%Zn alloy can be attributed to the effect of applied magnetic field on the anisotropy of crystal during solidification. The result indicates the potential application of high static magnetic field in altering the morphology and preferred growth direction of dendrite during directional solidification.