The paper presents detailed analyses of solidification experiments performed on a refined Al-20wt.%Cu alloy using the SFINX (Solidification Furnace with IN situ X-radiography) laboratory facility. Directional solidifications of a sheet-like sample were carried out in a horizontal configuration, with the main surface of the sample parallel to the ground. The sample was solidified for a wide range of cooling rates to obtain various grain structures, from columnar to elongated and equiaxed. The formation of the grain structure was observed in-situ and in real-time by X-radiography, which allows the dynamic of solidification phenomena to be thoroughly analyzed. Based on the radiographs, quantitative measurements were performed to

Gravity effects such as natural convection in the liquid phase and buoyancy forces acting on the solid phase have a strong influence on the grain structure and microstructure formation dynamics during the solidification of metal alloys. It is thus very useful to undertake experimental studies that will provide benchmark data for a deeper understanding of the role of such gravity effects. In this paper, we study the formation of the equiaxed grain structure during refined Al-20wt.%Cu solidification in a temperature gradient for three different configurations: horizontal, vertical upward and vertical downward solidification. The key grain characteristics, namely grain size, grain elongation and grain growth orientation, were determined for all experiments and a comparative study was performed to identify the dominant effects of gravity 2 for each case. The present study provides quantitative information on the impact of grain flotation and solute flows on the equiaxed microstructure characteristics by means of in situ laboratory X-radiography.

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