Research progress on solidification structure of alloys by synchrotron X-ray radiography: A review

The synchrotron radiation technology has recently emerged as a powerful tool to characterize the real-time microstructure evolution during solidification of alloys. Compared with other methods, the synchrotron radiation technology, along with its unique advantages of strong brightness, high energy, excellent resolution, and good monochromaticity, allows for capturing the dendrite evolution behavior of alloys in real time and can be dynamically coordinated with high-resolution CCD (Charge-coupled Device) imaging systems. This paper briefly reviews the recent advances in developing synchrotron radiation for solidification of alloys with low, medium, and high melting points, and under the external electric, magnetic, and ultrasonic fields. Furthermore, a series of microstructural features and behaviors such as dendrite morphology, growth orientation, dendrite fracture, and rotation are described in detail. Finally, the development trends and application prospects of synchrotron radiation technology in alloy solidification are forecasted.