Numerical simulation of macrosegregation during solidification of binary alloys

Macrosegregation as a consequence of solidification of a binary Pb–48 wt% Sn alloy in two-dimensional rectangle cavity was investigated by two-phase model instead of the common used continuum model. The macroscopic transport of mass, momentum, species and energy was coupled with the microscopic descriptions of grain nucleation and growth. The mathematic equations of the two-phase model were discretized on staggered grids and solved by the finite volume method. The final tin concentrations along different heights over the bottom face were compared with the experiment measurements. Simulations with different microstructure parameters(second dendrite arm spacing(SDAS))were conducted to ascertain the influence of microstructure on the final macrosegregation. The results show that with the decrease in SDAS value, the drag force as the resistance to relative motion between solid and liquid phase increases, and the macrosegregation during solidification is alleviated.