Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2020
In the one-dimensional solidification of a binary alloy undergoing shrinkage, there is a relative motion between solid and liquid phases in the mushy zone, leading to the possibility of macrosegregation; thus, the problem constitutes an invaluable benchmark for the testing of numerical codes that model these phenomena. Here, we revisit an earlier obtained solution for this problem, that was posed on a semi-infinite spatial domain and valid for the case of low superheat, with a view to extending it to the more general situation of a finite spatial domain, arbitrarily large superheat and both eutectic and non-eutectic solidification. We find that a similarity solution is available for short times which contains a boundary layer on the liquid side of the mush–liquid interface; this solution is believed to constitute the correct initial condition for the subsequent numerical solution of the full non-similar problem, which is deferred to future work.
The first author acknowledges the financial support of Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for the researcher grant (grant number 2016/12678-0). The second author acknowledges the financial support of FAPESP for the award of a visiting researcher grant (grant number 2018/07643-8).