Analytical solution to the equations of a two-phase layer with allowance for the convective heat and mass transfer in a binary liquid

The model equations describing directional crystallization of a binary system with a two-phase layer and taking into account the convective heat and mass transfer mechanism in the liquid phase are formulated. The system of formulated nonlinear heat and mass transfer equations is solved analytically in the case of steady-state crystallization scenario. The temperature and concentration distributions, the solid phase fraction, the two-phase layer thickness and its boundaries, solid phase - mushy layer and mushy layer - liquid phase, are found. The steady-state crystallization velocity is determined as a function of fixed model parameters. The developed model and its analytical solutions describe the case of intensive motions of a binary liquid (the case of turbulent flows in the ocean, for example). © 2019 Author(s)

Analytical solutions of mushy layer equations describing directional solidification in the presence of nucleation

The processes of particle nucleation and their evolution in a moving metastable layer of phase transition (supercooled liquid or supersaturated solution) are studied analytically. The transient integro-differential model for the density distribution function and metastability level is solved for the kinetic and diffusionally controlled regimes of crystal growth. The Weber–Volmer–Frenkel–Zel’dovich and Meirs mechanisms for nucleation kinetics are used. We demonstrate that the phase transition boundary lying between the mushy and pure liquid layers evolves with time according to the following power dynamic law: at + eZ1(t), where Z1(t) = ßt7/2 and Z1(t) = ßt2 in cases of kinetic and diffusionally controlled scenarios. The growth rate parameters a, ß and e are determined analytically. We show that the phase transition interface in the presence of crystal nucleation and evolution propagates slower than in the absence of their nucleation. This article is part of the theme issue ‘From atomistic interfaces to dendritic patterns’. © 2018 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.Российский Фонд Фундаментальных Исследований (РФФИ), RFBRData accessibility. This article has no additional data. Authors’ contributions. All authors contributed equally to the present research article. Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding. This work was supported by project no. 16-08-00932 from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research

On the theory of the unsteady-state growth of spherical crystals in metastable liquids

Motivated by a large number of applications, we consider the process of non-stationary growth of spherical crystals in a supercooled binary melt. The moving-boundary problem describing the unsteadystate distributions of temperature and impurity concentration around the growing crystal as well as the dynamics of its radius and growth rate is solved by means of the methods of small-parameter expansion and Laplace-Carson integral transform. We show that the growth rate of crystals contains the main contribution (which is proportional to the supercooling degree) and the first correction (which is proportional to 2t, where t is time). The second correction is also found. The non-stationary temperature and concentration fields are determined as power functions of and t. We demonstrate that the first corrections to the dynamics of crystal radius R(t) and its growth rate V(t) play an important role. It is shown that R(t) andV(t) can change more than twice in comparison with the previously known steady-state solution with the course of time. Such a behaviour will significantly modify the dynamics of a polydisperse ensemble of crystals evolving in a metastable liquid. This article is part of the theme issue 'Heterogeneous materials: Metastable and non-ergodic internal structures'. ©2019 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society

From nucleation and coarsening to coalescence in metastable liquids

The transition of a metastable liquid (supersaturated solution or supercooled melt) occurring from the intermediate stage (where the crystals nucleate and grow) to the concluding stage (where the larger particles evolve at the expense of the dissolution of smaller particles) is theoretically described, with allowance for various mass transfer mechanisms (reaction on the interface surface, volume diffusion, grain-boundary diffusion, diffusion along the dislocations) arising at the stage of Ostwald ripening (coalescence). The initial distribution function (its 'tail') for the concluding stage (forming as a result of the evolution of a particulate assemblage during the intermediate stage) is taken into account to determine the particle-size distribution function at the stage of Ostwald ripening. This modified distribution function essentially differs from the universal Lifshitz-Slyozov (LS) solutions for several mass transfer mechanisms. Namely, its maximum lies below and is shifted to the left in comparison with the LS asymptotic distribution function. In addition, the right branch of the particle-size distribution lies above and is shifted to the right of the LS blocking point. It is shown that the initial 'tail' of the particle-size distribution function completely determines its behaviour at the concluding stage of Ostwald ripening. The present theory agrees well with experimental data. © 2020 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-19-00008Data accessibility. This article has no additional data. Authors’ contributions. All authors contributed equally to the present research article. Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 18-19-00008)

Dynamics of particulate assemblages in metastable liquids: A test of theory with nucleation and growth kinetics

This manuscript is devoted to the nonlinear dynamics of particulate assemblages in metastable liquids, caused by various dynamical laws of crystal growth and nucleation kinetics. First of all, we compare the quasi-steady-state and unsteady-state growth rates of spherical crystals in supercooled and supersaturated liquids. It is demonstrated that the unsteady-state rates transform to the steady-state ones in a limiting case of fine particles. We show that the real crystals evolve slowly in a more actual case of unsteady-state growth laws. Various growth rates of particles are tested against experimental data in metastable liquids. It is demonstrated that the unsteady-state rates describe the nonlinear behaviour of experimental curves with increasing the growth time or supersaturation. Taking this into account, the crystal-size distribution function and metastability degree are analytically found and compared with experimental data on crystallization in inorganic and organic solutions. It is significant that the distribution function is shifted to smaller sizes of particles if we are dealing with the unsteady-state growth rates. In addition, a complete analytical solution constructed in a parametric form is simplified in the case of small fluctuations in particle growth rates. In this case, a desupercooling/desupersaturation law is derived in an explicit form. Special attention is devoted to the biomedical applications for insulin and protein crystallization. © 2020 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-19-00008Data accessibility. This article has no additional data. Authors’ contributions. All authors contributed equally to the present review article. Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 18-19-00008)

Examination of evidence for collinear cluster tri-partition

In a series of the experiments at different time-of-flight spectrometers of heavy ions we have observed manifestations of a new at least ternary decay channel of low excited heavy nuclei. Due to specific features of the effect, it was called collinear cluster tri-partition (CCT). The experimental results obtained initiated a number of theoretical articles dedicated to different aspects of the CCT. We compare theoretical predictions with our experimental data, only partially published so far. The model of one of the most populated CCT modes that gives rise to the so called "Ni-bump" is discussed. Detection of the 68-72Ni fission fragments with a kinetic energy E<25 MeV at the mass-separator Lohengrin is proposed for an independent experimental verification of the CCT.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure

Ostwald ripening in the presence of simultaneous occurrence of various mass transfer mechanisms: An extension of the Lifshitz-Slyozov theory

The Ostwald ripening stage of a phase transformation process with allowance for synchronous operation of various mass transfer mechanisms (volume diffusion and diffusion along the block boundaries and dislocations) and the initial condition for the particle-radius distribution function is theoretically studied. The initial condition is taken from the analytical solution describing the intermediate stage of a phase transition process. The present theory focuses on relaxation dynamics from the beginning of the ripening process to its final asymptotic state, which is described by the previously constructed theories (Slezov VV. et al. 1978 J. Phys. Chem. Solids 39, 705-709. (doi:10.1016/0022-3697(78)90002-1) and Alexandrov & Alexandrova 2020 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 378, 20190247. (doi:10.1098/rsta.2019.0247)). An evolutionary behaviour of particle growth rates dependent on various mass transfer mechanisms and time is analytically described. The boundaries of the transition layer, which surround the blocking point, are found. The fundamental and relaxation contributions to the particle-radius distribution function are derived for the simultaneous occurrence of various mass transfer mechanisms. The left branch of this function is shifted to smaller particle radii whereas its right branch extends to the right of the blocking point as compared with the asymptotic universal distribution function. The theory under consideration well agrees with experimental data. This article is part of the theme issue 'Transport phenomena in complex systems (part 1)'. © 2021 The Author(s).Russian Science Foundation, RSF, (18-19-00008)Data accessibility. This article has no additional data. Authors’ contributions. All authors contributed equally to the present research article. Competing interests. We declare we have no competing interests. Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 18-19-00008)

Dissolution of polydisperse ensembles of crystals in channels with a forced flow

A non-stationary integro-differential model describing the dissolution of polydisperse ensembles of crystals in channels filled with flowing liquid is analysed. The particle-size distribution function, the particle flux through an arbitrary cross-section of the channel, the particle concentration profile, as well as the disappearance intensity of particles are found analytically. It is shown that a nonlinear behaviour of solutions is completely defined by the source term of particles introduced into the channel. In particular, the model approximately describes the processes of dissolution and transport of drug microcrystals to the target sites in a living organism, taking into account complex dissolution kinetics of drug particles. © 2020 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-19-00008Data accessibility. This article has no additional data. Authors’ contributions. All authors contributed equally to the present research article. Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 18-19-00008)

Phase transformations in metastable liquids combined with polymerization

This paper is concerned with the theory of nucleation and growth of crystals in a metastable polymer melt with allowance for the polymerization of a monomer. A mathematical model consisting of the heat balance equation, equations governing the particle-radius distribution function and the polymerization degree is formulated. The exact steady-state analytical solutions are found. In the case of unsteady-state crystallization with polymerization, the particle-size distribution function is determined analytically for different space-time regions by means of the Laplace transform. Two functional integrodifferential equations governing the dimensionless temperature and polymerization degree are deduced. These equations are solved by means of the saddlepoint technique for the evaluation of a Laplace-type integral. The time-dependent distribution function, temperature and polymerization degree at different polymerization rates and nucleation kinetics are derived with allowance for the main contribution to the Laplace-type integral. In addition, the general analytical solution by means of the saddle-point technique and an example showing how to construct the analytical solutions in particular cases are given in the appendices. The analytical method developed in the present paper can be used to describe the similar phase transition phenomena in the presence of chemical reactions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Heterogeneous materials: Metastable and nonergodic internal structures'. ©2019 The Author(s)Published by the Royal Society