A Computationally Efficient Multi-Scale Model for Microstructure Evolution During Solidification of Multi-Component and Multi-Phase Alloys

A novel computationally efficient multi-scale numerical model is developed by integrating Cellular Automata (CA) and Phase Field (PF) methods to predict the dendrite growth of multi-component and multi-phase alloys during various solidification processes. The micro-scale CA model is built to track dendrite growth and associate mass and/or heat redistribution, while the 1-D PF model reformulated in polar coordinate system is used as a subroutine to calculate the growth kinetics for the CA interface cells. The integrated model can take advantage of the high computational efficiency of the CA model and the comprehensive physical background of the PF model. The model has been applied to simulate the dendrite growth during various solidification processes such as  casting, laser welding and laser cladding processes, and a good quantitative agreement is obtained between the simulated results and the benchmark experiments.