Effect of anisotropic surface tension on the interface morphology of column crystals

The effect of anisotropic surface tension on the growth behavior of column crystals at quasi-steady state is considered in this article. By using the method of asymptotic expansion,a mathematic expression is obtained to describe the interface patterns of column crystals,and the interface morphology change with different anisotropic parameters is discussed. The results show that anisotropic surface tension has a great effect on the interface morphology. During the initial stage,some part of the interface shrinks inward first,and then it starts to move outward after the shrink reaches a critical value. In the direction of preferred growth,the interface of column crystals grows faster. The effect of anisotropic surface tension leads to bulge formation of the interface. As the anisotropic parameters increase,the bulge formation gets obvious.