Microstructure and fractal characteristics of the solid-liquid interface forming during directional solidification of Inconel 718

The solidification microstructure and fractal characteristics of the solid-liquid interfaces of Inconel 718, under different cooling rates during directional solidification, were investigated by using SEM. Results showed that 5 μm/s was the cellular-dendrite transient rate. The prime dendrite arm spacing (PDAS) was measured by Image Tool and it decreased with the cooling rate increased. The fractal dimension of the interfaces was calculated and it changes from 1.204310 to 1.517265 with the withdrawal rate ranging from 10 to 100 μm/s. The physical significance of the fractal dimension was analyzed by using fractal theory. It was found that the fractal dimension of the dendrites can be used to describe the solidification microstructure and parameters at low cooling rate, but both the fractal dimension and the dendrite arm spacing are needed in order to integrally describe the evaluation of the solidification microstructure completely.