Review on irregular eutectic solidification theory

The regular eutectic solidification theory has been established after the great efforts of several years' research from the solidification scientists all over the world. This relatively mature theory has revealed the selection mechanism of regular eutectic spacing and has demonstrated the evolution process of regular eutectic morphology. However, although the irregular eutectic solidification theory has also been widely studied, the corresponding models remain unconvincing and incomplete to a large extent. In this paper, the eutectic solidification theory is thoroughly reviewed while the emphasis is the important achievements on the irregular eutectic solidification theory in recent years. Afterwards the further research direction of irregular eutectic solidification theory is put forward.