Morphological instabilities in the solidification front of binary mixtures

Abstract

To conclude with respect to the present experiments, it is clear that much remains to be done to gain a better understanding of the various phenomena observed. Such studies will certainly provide a wealth of information on the dynamics of morphologic instabilities.

More generally, in the context of this book, we should like to point out some parallels which can be drawn between the convective instability and the solid-liquid interface one described here. First, the basic physical phenomena are similar : a system, pushed far from equilibrium (by an inverse temperature gradient in the Bayleigh-Benard problem, by an accumulation of solute in the present case) produces a macroscopically ordered, space-periodic response improving the corresponding transport : convection to carry heat, solute evacuation in the grooves between the cells observed here.