Abstract:The relationship between the solid/liquid interface and the crystal orientation for pure magnesium, which grows in fashion of cellular crystal in unidirectional solidification, was investigated. The results show that the energy of the solid/liquid interface is the lowest during cellular crystal growth of pure magnesium; and the solid/liquid interface is covered by the basal face {0001} and by the crystal face made up of three atoms located at the orientation {0001}<0100> and two atoms located at the inner of magnesium crystal cell. The strongest bond is formed in the direction of 61.9˚ deviating from the growth direction, and the second strong bond is formed in the directions of 8.5˚ and 47.7˚, respectively, deviating from the growth direction. The angle between the basal face {0001} and the growth direction is 61.9˚. The theoretical analysis results are basically consistent with the experimental results from SUSUMU et al.

Key words: magnesium; solidification process; crystal growth; crystal orientation