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Characteristics of melt convection during Kyropoulos sapphire crystal growth

  • HaiSheng Fang , Zhi Zhang , ZeLin Jin , Sen Wang and JianFeng Xu
Published/Copyright: October 10, 2014
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International Journal of Materials Research
From the journal International Journal of Materials Research Volume 105 Issue 10

Abstract

Melt flows in the Kyropoulos sapphire growth system include Marangoni convection and buoyancy convection. From the seeding stage to the final growth stage, both the area of the free surface and melt height decrease to zero from initial values, and hence the flow pattern in the melt varies during growth. To study systematically melt convection and its influence on the growth process, a non-dimensional parameter is introduced to denote the relative strength of Marangoni convection to buoyancy convection. Temperature and stream function distributions for the different growth stages are simulated. It is found that Marangoni convection is negligible during the early growth. However, it plays an important role in the late growth. The remelting of the crystal surface starts when Marangoni convection becomes dominant, and thus it may be related to this convection mode. The interface shape is found to be changing during the whole growth process, which reduces the industrial productivity of sapphire. Interface convexity, crystal diameter and the non-dimensional parameter are presented as functions of the melt height. Interface convexity is further described as a function of the non-dimensional parameter. The results are consistent with experimentally observed phenomena.

Keywords: Convection; Computer simulation; Growth from melt; Industrial crystallization; Sapphire
* Correspondence address, HaiSheng Fang, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, PR China, Tel.: +86 27 87542618, Fax: +86 27 87540724, E-mail:

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Received: 2014-01-16
Accepted: 2014-04-03
Published Online: 2014-10-10
Published in Print: 2014-10-14

© 2014, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

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https://doi.org/10.3139/146.111107
Keywords for this article
Convection; Computer simulation; Growth from melt; Industrial crystallization; Sapphire

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Contents
  2. Contents
  3. Original Contributions
  4. Phase equilibria studies of the “MnO”–Al2O3–SiO2 system in equilibrium with metallic alloy. Part 1: Development of the technique and determination of liquidus isotherms between 1 423 K and 1 523 K
  5. Casting process optimization of a bimetal wear-resistant block using liquid–solid processing
  6. Characteristics of melt convection during Kyropoulos sapphire crystal growth
  7. A method for the formation of intergranular crystalline phases in liquid phase sintering
  8. Corrosion resistance of laser treated titanium alloy with B4C particles at the surface
  9. Effect of Cr and Mo doping on the electrochemical properties of freeze-dried LiCoO2
  10. Inhibition properties and adsorption behavior of olive leaf extract on N80 carbon steel in CO2-saturated brine solution
  11. Tribological behavior of Fe3Al-60 wt.% Fe3AlC0.5 composite under air and vacuum conditions
  12. Improving the surface topography of mild steel with the burnishing process
  13. Additional small-scale boundary effects on free vibration of carbon nanotubes and their macroscopic energy meaning
  14. Aqueous soluble gold nanoparticle synthesis using polyethyleneimine and reduced glutathione
  15. DGM News
  16. Personal
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