Phase-field study of spacing evolution during transient growth

Analysis of thermodiffusive cellular instabilities in continuum combustion fronts

We explore numerically the morphological patterns of thermodiffusive instabilities in combustion fronts with a continuum fuel source, within a range of Lewis numbers and ignition temperatures, focusing on the cellular regime. For this purpose, we generalize the recent model of Brailovsky et al. to include distinct process kinetics and reactant heterogeneity. The generalized model is derived analytically and validated with other established models in the limit of infinite Lewis number for zero-order and first-order kinetics. Cellular and dendritic instabilities are found at low Lewis numbers. These are studied using a dynamic adaptive mesh refinement technique that allows very large computational domains, thus allowing us to reduce finite-size effects that can affect or even preclude the emergence of these patterns. Our numerical linear stability analysis is consistent with the analytical results of Brailovsky et al. The distinct types of dynamics found in the vicinity of the critical Lewis number, ranging from steady-state cells to continued tip splitting and cell merging, are well described within the framework of thermodiffusive instabilities and are consistent with previous numerical studies. These types of dynamics are classified as "quasilinear" and characterized by low-amplitude cells that may be strongly affected by the mode selection mechanism and growth prescribed by the linear theory. Below this range of Lewis number, highly nonlinear effects become prominent and large-amplitude, complex cellular and seaweed dendritic morphologies emerge.

Dynamic evolution of initial instability during non-steady-state growth

Dynamic evolution of initial instability is investigated by an analytic model obtained by modifying the theory of Warren and Langer [Phys. Rev. E 47, 2702 (1993)] and the quantitative phase-field model in directional solidification under transient conditions for realistic parameters of a dilute alloy. The evolutions of tip velocity and concentration in the liquid side of the interface predicted by the analytic model agree very well with that from the phase-field simulation in the linear growth stage of the non-steady-state growth, indicating that the model could be used as a convenient method to study the initial instability during non-steady-state growth. The influences of non-steady-state conditions which include the increasing rate of pulling speed and temperature gradient at the onset of initial instability are investigated, and we find that, the initial instability seems to depend strongly on the non-steady-state conditions and the non-steady-state history, and thus, it should be primarily considered in the study of the transient growth.