Quasi-isotropic and locked grain growth dynamics in a three-phase eutectic system

Abstract The anisotropy of the interphase boundaries has a substantial impact on the eutectic pattern formation. Using rotating directional solidification (RDS) technique, two distinct eutectic grains, namely quasi-isotropic (floating) and crystallographically-locked grains, were identified in three-phase In-Bi-Sn alloy system. The growth dynamics of these grains were investigated in thin samples. The ABAC-type growth pattern, where A, B, C are eutectic phases, is preserved in the quasi-isotropic grains upon evolution of the pattern over the entire crystallographic orientations in RDS experiments. In the locked grains, however, the regularity of the ABAC pattern is disturbed due to the existence of two-fold singularities, i.e. cusps over a well-defined angular range at the surface energy plot. Nevertheless, the ABAC pattern is recovered after the sequence of the unlocked/transient/locked/transient states. The characteristics of both grains are analogous to the nearly steady-state pattern formed upon standard directional solidification experiments. The quasi-isotropic and locked grains in a three-phase ternary eutectic system essentially have the similar dynamical features as the two-phase binary eutectic systems although the microstructural details are highly complex in the three-phase system. These similarities designate that the formation of quasi-isotropic and locked patterns is merely due to the inherent characteristics of the eutectic grains.