Phase-field formulation for quantitative modeling of alloy solidification

A phase-field formulation is introduced to simulate quantitatively microstructural pattern formation in alloys. The thin-interface limit of this formulation yields a much less stringent restriction on the choice of interface thickness than previous formulations and permits one to eliminate nonequilibrium effects at the interface. Dendrite growth simulations with vanishing solid diffusivity show that both the interface evolution and the solute profile in the solid are accurately modeled by this approach.