On fluid dynamics during crystallization

The topic of this review article is about some aspects of fluid dynamics during crystallization and the control of such flow by using external constraints such as rotation and magnetic field. Following a brief introduction regarding ways to improve the quality of different types of crystals, the research development accomplished in the recent years regarding the control of the undesirable fluid flow during crystal growth of alloys and proteins is reviewed. The basic theoretical and computational fluid dynamic methods to determine the solutions for the dependent variables of the fluid flow are described and the methods of the flow control are outlined, which can be beneficial to the crystal growers in the sense that defects and imperfections in the produced crystal can be reduced significantly as the result of such flow control during the production of crystals. The results are also compared with the available experimental data.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe