Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 November 2013
Besides the numerical tools which have been developed for solving the continuity equations in materials processing, the prediction of microstructures and defects in such processes is becoming an important step in assessing the quality, and ultimately the mechanical properties, of the final products. Because the typical length scales associated with the process and with the microstructure differ widely (typically a factor of 104), special techniques have to be used when coupling the macroscopic and microscopic levels. This contribution will briefly present some of the modeling tools recently developed for solidification. The trend is now to replace deterministic models used over the last 20 years by stochastic approaches which directly generate computed micrographs. Among those, Monte Carlo techniques originally developed for the grain growth in solids were adapted to the solidification of alloys, and cellular automata models specifically take into account the dendrite growth mechanisms.