Evolution of Grain Selection in Spiral Selector during Directional Solidification of Nickel-base Superalloys

The process of grain selection in the spiral selector was investigated by both a ProCAST simulation based on a cellular automaton finite element (CAFE) model and experimental confirmation. The results show that the height of starter block, the spiral diameter and initial angle play an important role in grain selection. The dimension of selector should be maintained in a stable range to optimize the grain orientation and select a single crystal efficiently. A selector which can efficiently select a single crystal had been successfully designed. Grain orientation fluctuation in the spiral part was also studied by means of the variation of thermal condition.