Numerical simulation of columnar to equiaxed transition for directionally solidified Ti-44Al alloy

Solute diffusion controlled solidification model was applied to simulate the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) during directional solidification of Ti-44Al alloy. The simulation results show that the solutal interactions from growing equiaxed grains play an important role on CET. The effects of the applied thermal gradient and pulling velocity, the equiaxed seed spacing and nucleation undercooling on the CET are investigated in the present simulation. The simulated results indicated that the columnar branch spacing depends not only on the thermal gradient and the pulling velocity, but also on number of the seeds. A spacing adjustment can occur through initiation of seeds that develop into new columnar grains. The dependence of the CET on the thermal gradient and pulling velocity, qualitatively agrees with the analytical CET model of Hunt.