Solidification conditions within the remelted ingot are calculated from the changing thermal regime as the ingot is formed. Output parameters may be selected from those shown in the menu below.

Solidification results may be viewed as either a PROFILE or a MAP. PROFILE results present a given parameter (eg. pool depth) as a function of time or ingot height; MAP results present a parameter as a function of ingot location at the time of solidification of that location. Thus, at any given instant throughout the melt cycle (or at a given ingot height), the PROFILE indicates the value of the pool depth at that instant. On the other hand, the MAP indicates what the pool depth was when a given ingot location underwent solidification. Thus, results plotted as a function of ingot height (PROFILE) or ingot location (MAP) are “out of phase” by the pool depth at that location.

If solidification PROFILE results are converted and plotted versus the ingot height at solidification, the two plots coincide. The series of shrinking pool depths at the final ingot height are associated with the final pool solidification at the end of melting. In terms of determining the solidification response to various solidification parameters, the MAP results are probably most significant since they represent the conditions when solidification occurred.

In addition to a melt chart which is generated for every simulation, a plot of the local solidification time along the central axis of the ingot, representing the location of the maximum LST, is also generated. This can be useful as an aid in determining the extent of end crops necessary to ensure the consistency of product quality. As shown in the example below, the top 10% of the ingot exhibits a greater LST than the bulk of the ingot which may result in a region having a coarser structure that is not suitable for the final product.

An important aspect in the development of a melt practice is the specification of a suitable melt rate. For some alloys, the structure and morphology (carbide size, dendritic structure, dendrite arm spacing, etc) can vary quite significantly with solidification parameters which in turn vary with melt rate. All models incorporate an optimization feature which will execute multiple simulations over a specified melt rate range to permit determination of the melt rate necessary to achieve the desired solidification results.

Results from successive simulations may be concatenated to cover the melt rate range of interest in order to select a melt rate which might lead to optimized properties.