Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / iii / Paper 332 / 2 / Solution

In the frame of a planar interface moving at speed $V$, the steady liquid temperature obeys $-V{T}_z=\kappa T_{zz}$ and approaches $T_{\infty }$. ThusThe Stefan condition, with negligible solid-side heat flux, givesso $T_i-T_{\infty }=L/c_p=S\Delta T$. The kinetic undercooling law then giveswhich requires $S<1$ for advancing solidification.

Scale length with $\kappa /V$, time with $\kappa /V^2$, and temperature with $\Delta T$. The base liquid temperature is ${\Theta }_0=S{e}^{-z}$. For an interface displacement $\zeta e^{i\alpha x+\sigma t}$, write the thermal perturbation asThe heat equation givesLinearizing the Stefan condition giveswhile the kinetic law with stabilizing curvature undercooling givesEliminating $A$ gives the general implicit dispersion relation

At marginal stability $\sigma =0$,and the dispersion relation becomesSince ${\alpha }^2=\lambda (\lambda -1)$ on this curve, the right-hand side is simply $\Gamma {\lambda }^2$. A positive cutoff wavenumber therefore exists exactly whenThe unstable band is $0<\alpha <{\alpha }_c$, whereA sketch of $\Gamma {\lambda }^2$ against the constant $S/(1-S)$ shows no crossing above $\alpha =0$ below threshold and one cutoff above it. As $S\uparrow 1$, ${\lambda }_c$ and ${\alpha }_c$ diverge like $(1-S{)}^{-1/2}$, so the range of the morphological instability of a kinetically limited solidification front becomes unbounded.