Solidification of Ternary Eutectic Alloys under Simulated Space Conditions

The solidification of ternary eutectic alloys involves competitive nucleation and cooperative growth of three solid phases in the same mother liquid phase, which generates plenty of microstructural morphologies. This is of importance for the methodological exploration of in situ composite material preparation as well as theoretical study of pattern formation phenomena. The microgravity effect and containerless state in space environment eliminate the convection and buoyancy induced by gravity, and avoid the heterogeneous nucleation originated from container walls, providing an ideal experimental condition for rapid solidification of metastable melts. Because of the extremely rare opportunity for space experiment, various ground based approaches (e.g. free fall, levitation, parabolic flight, and sounding rocket) are developed to achieve the microgravity and containerless effects to a certain degree. This paper reviews the recent progress of ternary eutectic solidification researches that are performed with ground simulation methods such as glass fluxing, drop tube, and acoustic levitation. The prospective developing trends are also discussed.