Morphological instability of lamellar structures in directionally solidified Ni-Ni3Si alloys

The morphological instability of lamellar structures in Ni-Ni3Si eutectic and hypereutectic alloys directionally solidified at low growth rates was investigated. The first instability in large lamellar structures was zigzag instability, which formed curved lamellae. A zigzag pattern was first displayed in three dimensions. The diffusion-limited growth of the Ni3Si phase decreased phase width and spacing, consequently causing zigzag instability. The reduced spacing was observed at λ/λave = 0.9. After zigzag instability, the microstructure of the eutectic alloy turned into a labyrinth structure and lamellar fragmentation. However, in hypereutectic alloys, shape transition from lamellae to rods occurred, in turn, by the broken lamellae or elongated rods to dumbbell-shaped rods, peanut-shaped rods, and circular rods.