Interactive Dynamics of Convection and Solidification

Book excerpt: Crystal growth, casting, soldering, welding, high-energy surface treatment, nuclear safety systems and geophysical flows are just a few examples where solidification and convection occur together. These processes are interactive on micro- and macroscales: flow affects the distribution of heat and species and hence the freezing process, while solidification evolves flow boundaries, as in crusting, for example, and hence can radically alter the convection. Mathematical modellers, experimentalists and applied scientists were invited to this colloquium with the aim of consolidating our understanding of such interactions, of identifying key outstanding issues, and of developing new approaches in this important area of fundamental research. Both invited and contributed papers focus on both fundamental and technologically relevant problems.