Seaweed pattern formation in the non-axially directional solidification of 2D-like and 3D Al-3 wt.% Mg single crystal

1.Introduction Microstructures are at the centre of materials science and engineering and play an essential role in determining the in-service mechanical properties of metallic alloys[1–4].Extensive theoretical and experimental investigations have been undertaken to describe and determine solidification microstructures as a function of solidification conditions.The seaweed pattern is one of the most important classes of microstructural patterns[5–7].The characteristic of this pattern is that its extending tips—unlike the behaviour observed in needle-like dendrites—split repeatedly into two or more parts.