Three-dimensional characterization of dendritic microstructures

The first complete characterization of a dendritic microstructure is presen ted. The dendrite morphology is obtained via a novel serial-sectioning proc ess that allows the three-dimensional microstructure of opaque materials to be determined in a routine manner. Using the reconstructed dendrite we det ermine the spatial distribution of the mean and Gaussian curvature as well as the probability density distributions of these curvatures. These measure ments yield many insights into the local processes that shape these topolog ically complex structures that are vital in setting many material propertie s. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.