Phase field study of the tip operating state of a freely growing dendrite against convection using a novel parallel multigrid approach

Alloy dendrite growth during solidification with coupled thermal-solute-convection fields has been studied by phase field modeling and simulation. The coupled transport equations were solved using a novel parallel-multigrid numerical approach with high computational efficiency that has enabled the investigation of dendrite growth with realistic alloy values of Lewis number ∼104 and Prandtl number ∼10−2. The detailed dendrite tip shape and character were compared with widely recognized analytical approaches to show validity, and shown to be highly dependent on undercooling, solute concentration and Lewis number. In a relatively low flow velocity regime, variations in the ratio of growth selection parameter with and without convection agreed well with theory.