Formation of twinned lamellas with the application of static magnetic fields during semi-continuous casting of Al–0.24 wt%Fe alloy

Al–0.24 wt%Fe was semi-continuously cast with the application of static magnetic field of 0.1 and 0.2 T. The magnetic field transfers the microstructure from the columnar grains growing in the 〈1 0 0〉 direction into twinned lamellar crystals growing in the 〈1 1 0〉 direction. The lamellas possess the morphology and the crystallographic growth direction of the “feathery crystals”. However, the “feathers” (secondary arms) that branch off the twinning plane only start to form at 0.2 T. Under the two strengths of the magnetic field applied, no side arms in the twinning planes were observed. The increase of the lamellar spacing with the magnetic field is due to the initiation of the secondary arms.