Materials solidification physics in space

International audienceOne of the major unresolved problems in solidification physics and its industrial counterpart, the foundry industry, reads simply: the effect of fluid flow on the microstructure of cast products. As "cast" is just another word for "forced flow" and casting of alloys is an art and engineering technology of a few thousand years old, it might appear peculiar that the interplay between an advancing solidification front and fluid flow in the molten alloy still remains to be understood ..