Effects of a high magnetic field on the primary zinc-rich crystals in hypoeutectic Zn-Sn alloy

The effects of a high magnetic field on the primary zinc-rich crystals during the solidification process of hypoeutectic Zn-Sn were investigated, along with the analysis of crystallographic orientations of them. The results show that the primary zinc-rich crystals in two dimensions show column-like or dendritic forms whether without and with the HMF. However, they are highly aligned and textured by the application of a high magnetic field: with the longer axis parallel to but the crystallographic c axis perpendicular to the magnetic field. The two-dimensional forms of the primary zinc-rich crystals are related to their orientations relative to the observation planes. The orientation and alignment modification by the magnetic field arises from the induced magnetic torques due to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the zinc-rich crystals, which makes them in energetically optimal orientations.