Numerical investigation of the influence of material property of a crucible on interface shape in a unidirectional solidification process

We carried out calculations to investigate the influence of thermal conductivity of the wall of a crucible on melt-crystal interface shape using three-dimensional global analyses. It was found that thermal conductivity of the wall of a crucible has significant influence on the melt-crystal interface shape due to modification of the amount of outgoing heat flux through the wall of a crucible. The results indicate that we should control not only heater power, growth velocity, and melt flow but also thermophysical properties of the wall of a crucible in order to reduce deformation of the melt-crystal interface.