“Principles of Solidification” offers comprehensive descriptions of liquid-to-solid transitions encountered in shaped casting, welding, and non-biological bulk crystal growth processes. The book logically develops through careful presentation of relevant thermodynamic and kinetic theories and models of solidification occurring in a variety of materials. Major topics encompass the liquid-state, liquid-solid transformations, chemical macro- and microsegregation, purification by fractional crystallization and zone refining, solid-liquid interfaces, polyphase freezing, and rapid solidification processing. Solid-liquid interfaces are discussed quantitatively both as sharp and diffuse entities, with supporting differential geometric descriptions. The book offers: • Detailed mathematical examples throughout to guide readers • Applications of solidification and crystal growth methodologies for preparation and purification of metals, ceramics, polymers and semiconductors • Appendices providing supporting information on special topics covered in the chapters. Readers in materials, metallurgical, chemical, and mechanical engineering will find this to be a useful source on the subjects of solidification and crystal growth. Chemists, physicists, and geologists concerned with melting/freezing phenomena will also find much of value in this book.

The cover of this iteration (previous, 1989; first, 1984) features a snowflake-like dendrite, as typically seen on the surface of a polished section of a solidified alloy. Kurtz (materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lusanne) and Fisher (editor, Diffusion and Defect Data, Scitec Publications; Uetikon- Zurich, Switzerland) explain how such solidification phenomena play an important role in many of the processes used in fields ranging from production engineering to solid-state physics, before proceeding to the specifics of: atom transfer and morphological instability at the solid/liquid interface, solidification microstructures, and solute redistribution. A cursory overview can be derived from the text and figure captions; appendices supply the mathematical derivations and physical properties. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Solidification is one of the oldest processes for producing useful implements and remains one of the most important modern commercial processes. This text describes the fundamentals of the technology in a coherent way, using consistent notation.

Elements of Rapid Solidification: Fundamentals and Applications is the product of many years of concentrated work in the field of rapid solidification and processing. This quasi-monograph is unique in two ways. It brings together the talent of many international scientists in an effort to focus attention on all aspects of a new scientific field and it concentrates on fundamentals and practical applications. Simply stated, this book has been written by the senior students in the field of rapid solidification technology for the new generation of solid-state physicists, materials scientists, materials engineers, metallurgists and ceramicists.

Solidification processes and phenomena, segregation, porosity, gravity effects, fluid flow, undercooling, as well as processing of materials in the microgravity environment of space, now available on space shuttle flights were discussed.

Proceedings of an Indo-US Workshop on Principles of Solidification and Materials Processing, Hyderabad, 1988