Isothermal Crystallization Behavior of Biodegradable Poly (butylene succinate-co-terephthalate) (PBST) Copolyesters at High Undercoolings

Poly （butylene succinatc-co-terephthalate） （PBST） copolycsters were prepared by polycondensation. The crystallization behavior of the as-prepared copolyesters was investigated by depolarized light intensity （DLI） at high undercoolings. According to Avrami equation, the exponent n, independent of the crystallization temperature, is at a range of 2. 5 to 3. 4, which probably corresponds to the heterogeneous mucleation and a 3-dimensional spherulitic growth. The maximum crystallization rate, very useful to polymer processing, was found at about 90℃ based on the half-crystallization time t1/2 analysis.

MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF HIGHLY UNDERCOOLED EUTECTIC Ni78.6 Si21.4 ALLOY

A large undercooling level up to 550K （0.386Te） was achieved in eutectic Ni78.6Si21.4melt by the combination of molten-glass and cyclic superheating. A microcrystaUine structure is obtained at large undercooling. Surprisingly, the morphology of ct（Ni） phase transits from the non-faceted phaseto faceted phase at large undercooling of 390K. Based on the classical nucleation theory and transient nucleation theory, the process of microstructure evolution and competitive nucleation was analyzed, and the refinement of crystal structure is determined by the high nucleation rate under large undercooling.

RECALESCENCE BEHAVIOUR AND SOLIDIFICATION STRUCTURE OF HIGHLY UNDERCOOLED Ni-32.5%Sn EUTECTIC ALLOY

Large undercoolings up to 395K (0.28TE) are obtained for 15g samples of Ni-32.5%Sn eutectic alloy by superheating the alloy melt to 108-700K above its eutectic temperature and consequently destroying most of the inherent heterogeneous nuclei. The recalcscence phenomenon and its dependence on undercooling and on crystal nuclcation and growth, as well as its relationship to solidification microstructures are studied. The crystalli/ation fraction during recalcsccnce is also calculated. Experiments reveal that recalcscence degree increases with undercooling when the latter is below a certain critical value∧Te, but it decreases as undercooling increases above A 7'( (under present conditions∧Te= 245K, i. c. 0.17TE). The greater the recalescencc degree, the larger the proportion of anomalous eutectic in solidified structures. It is inferred that anomalous eutectic is the product of rapid solidification while lamellar eutectic forms at much slower nuclcation rate and growth velocity.

Phase selection and microstructure evolution within eutectic Ti-Si alloy solidified at containerless state

Phase selection and microstructure evolution of the undercooled eutectic Ti-Si alloy were systematically investigated by the electromagnetic levitation method, and the maximum undercooling achieved was 318 K(0.2 TE). The migration of the liquidsolid interface was in-situ detected by a high-speed camera system. When the undercooling is smaller than 140 K, the liquid-solid interface is smooth. Once the undercooling arrives at 230 K, the liquid-solid interface is irregular, which reflects the growth transition from the solute control to the combined controls of solute and thermal. The eutectic growth velocity increases as an exponential function of undercooling. The electromagnetic stirring effect makes it difficult to increase undercooling, but plays an important role in accelerating the eutectic reaction velocity at low and moderate undercoolings. Primary dendritic β-Ti phase appears in the solidified alloy from 63 to 176 K undercoolings, and the microstructure is completely composed of eutectic once the undercoolings increase up to 230 K. When the undercoolings exceed 273 K, the microstructure consists of uniformly distributed irregular eutectic. For the drop tube experiments, the microstructures composed of a large amount of dendritic α-Ti phase and eutectic phase are found in a wide range of diameters from 69 to 725 μm. As the decrease of diameter, the solubility of Si in the dendritic α-Ti phase dramatically increases from 6.80% to 10.73%, and the ratio of the area occupied by the dendritic α-Ti on a cross-section of solidified alloy obviously increases from 23.52% to 41.02%, which result from the combined effects of high undercooling and large cooling rate.

Effect of solidification temperature range on the dendritic growth mode

Electromagnetic levitation technique was used to undercool bulk samples of Co-20% Cu and Co-60% Cu alloys and high undercoolings up to 303 and 110 K were achieved,respectively.The dendritic growth velocities were measured as a function of undercooling.The dendrite growth velocity of the Co-20% Cu alloy was much higher than that of the Co-60% Cu alloy.The experimental data were analyzed on the basis of the LKT/BCT dendritic growth model by taking into account non-equilibrium interface kinetics.It has been revealed that a transition from solute diffusion controlled dendritic growth to thermal diffusion controlled dendritic growth occurs at an undercooling of about 66 K for the Co-20% Cu alloy,whereas the dendrite growth in Co-60% Cu alloy proceeds in a solute diffusion controlled mode within a large solidification temperature range,and the solutal undercooling plays a dominant role.It is thus deduced that certain distinct solidification temperature ranges may be responsible for the different solidification modes for the two alloys.