Directional solidification cells at low velocities

Abstract
Profiles of deep solidification cells are computed numerically in the framework of the one-sided model of directional solidification. Previous results obtained for a constant miscibility gap (K=1) are confirmed and extended to arbitrary K values for small Péclet numbers (P≪1). Various approximate relations between experimentally measurable quantities are deduced from a viscous finger analogy and tested numerically. We point out an effective parameter that should prove useful in comparing the miscellaneous experimental results.