ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the application of magnetic fields to solidification processing and considers the conditions necessary to control solidification structures. Application of magnetic fields during solidification and crystal growth processing has been used practically for continuous casting and the Czochralski process. The effect of high magnetic fields on macrosegregation in Bridgman growth has been examined by Matthesen et al. They applied the magnetic field in the growth direction and found that the concentration profile in the growth direction agreed well with the diffusion-controlled profile. The solidification process is clearly important for magnetic alignment. The semi-solid conditions necessary for the magnetic field to rotate the grains to favoured directions depend significantly on the initial microstructure and solidification procedure. The use of the magnetization force and anisotropy in magnetic susceptibility is a promising route for the production of aligned structures.
