Solidification Sheet

1. Name the two stages involved in the formation of particles of a new phase. Briefly describe
each.

2. (a) Rewrite the expression for the total free energy change for nucleation for the case of a
cubic nucleus of edge length “a” (instead of a sphere of radius “r” ). Now differentiate this
expression with respect to “a” and solve for both the critical cube edge length, a*, and also
∆G*.
(b) Is ∆G* greater for a cube or a sphere? Why?

3. If copper (which has a melting point of 1085°C) homogeneously nucleates at 849°C,

calculate the critical radius given values of -1.77x109 J/m3 and 0.200 J/m2, respectively, for
the latent heat of fusion and the surface free energy.

4. (a) For the solidification of iron, calculate the critical radius r* and the activation free energy
∆G* if nucleation is homogeneous. Values for the latent heat of fusion and surface free
energy are -1.85x109 J/m3 and 0.204 J/m2, respectively. Use the supercooling value of 295°C.
(b) Now calculate the number of atoms found in a nucleus of critical size. Assume a lattice
parameter of 0.292 nm for solid iron at its melting temperature.

5. Calculate the fraction of solidification that occurs dendritically when silver nucleates
(a) at 10°C undercooling;
(b) at 100°C undercooling; and
(c) homogeneously.
The specific heat of silver is 3.25 J/(cm3.°C).

6. Analysis of a nickel casting suggests that 28% of the solidification process occurred in a
dendritic manner. Calculate the temperature at which nucleation occurred. The specific heat
of nickel is 4.1 J/(cm3.°C).

7. Find the mold constant B and exponent n in Chvorinov’s rule using the following data and a
log–log plot.
8. A 2 in. cube solidifies in 4.6 min. Assume n = 2. Calculate (a) the mold constant in
Chvorinov’s rule and (b) the solidification time for a (0.5 in.× 0.5 in. × 6 in.) bar cast under
the same conditions.

9. A 5-cm-diameter sphere solidifies in 1050 s. Calculate the solidification time for a (0.3 cm ×
10 cm × 20 cm) plate cast under the same conditions. Assume that n = 2.

10. An aluminum alloy plate with dimensions (20 cm×10 cm×2 cm) needs to be cast with a
secondary dendrite arm spacing of 10-2 cm. What mold constant B is required (assume n =
2)?