An application of dendritic growth in directional solidification is gas turbine engine blades which are used at high temperatures and must handle high stresses along the major axes.  At high temperatures, grain boundaries are weaker than grains.  In order to minimize the effect on properties, grain boundaries are aligned parallel to the dendrites.  The first alloy used in this application was a nickel-based alloy (MAR M-200) with 12.5% tungsten, which accumulated in the dendrites during solidification.  This resulted in blades with high strength and creep resistance extending along the length of the casting, giving improved properties compared to the traditionally-cast equivalent.