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Confirmation of Anomalous Nucleation in Zirconium

JOM volume 72, pages 3140–3146 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Pure, low-oxygen zirconium samples have been observed to nucleate a solid phase under conditions during which the sample was expected to remain liquid. This phenomenon was first seen during Spacelab Mission MSL-1R (materials science laboratory) experiments and has since also been observed in the International Space Station (ISS) electromagnetic levitation (EML) facility on a different sample. Current work has been able to replicate these anomalous solidification events under a range of conditions in the ISS MSL-EML facility. The solidification events are not well explained by classical homogeneous or heterogeneous nucleation. The current theory is that collapsing voids in the melt create a local region of high pressure that results in local material being deeply undercooled and a strong driving force for solidification.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jürgen Brillo, Douglas Matson, Dieter Herlach, Ken Kelton, Dirk Holland-Moritz, and Thomas Volkmann for fruitful discussions. The experiment was run in the ISS-EML facility, formerly MSL-EML. Support for this project was provide through NASA Grant NNX16AB40G.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, USA

    G. P. Bracker, J. Zhao & R. W. Hyers

  2. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Cologne, Germany

    S. Schneider

  3. Ulm Universität, Ulm, Germany

    R. Wunderlich & H. Fecht

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  1. G. P. Bracker
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  2. S. Schneider
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  3. R. Wunderlich
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  4. H. Fecht
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  5. J. Zhao
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  6. R. W. Hyers
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Correspondence to G. P. Bracker.

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Bracker, G.P., Schneider, S., Wunderlich, R. et al. Confirmation of Anomalous Nucleation in Zirconium. JOM 72, 3140–3146 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04257-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04257-7