Formation of Chimneys in Mushy Layers: Experiment and Simulation

TL;DR

This paper combines experimental imaging and numerical simulations to study chimney formation in mushy layers during directional solidification of ammonium chloride solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to experimentally observe and numerically simulate chimney formation in mushy layers, enabling direct comparison between experiments and models.

Findings

Chimney formation observed in controlled experiments.

Numerical simulations successfully replicate experimental results.

Convective motion characterized using schlieren imaging.

Abstract

In this fluid dyanmics video, we show experimental images and simulations of chimney formation in mushy layers. A directional solidification apparatus was used to freeze 25 wt % aqueous ammonium chloride solutions at controlled rates in a narrow Hele-Shaw cell (1mm gap). The convective motion is imaged with schlieren. We demonstrate the ability to numerically simulate mushy layer growth for direct comparison with experiments.