Observations of Several Characteristic Transient times in Pressure Moderated Thermal Dendrites

Succinonitrile dendrites, growing under steady-state conditions, are subjected to a rapid change in pressure. This leads to a rapid change in thermal driving force from the corresponding change in equilibrium melting temperature due to the Clapeyron effect, and a change in the far-field temperature due to adiabatic temperature changes in the bulk liquid and solid. This allows us to observe a dendrite evolving from a well-characterized initial state into a new steady-state. In making these observations and measurements, we are gaining new understandings of the interfacial dynamics and state-selection physics. In this paper we compare data obtained during preliminary ground-based experiments to numerical simulations.