Characteristic contact angles in the Aluminium/vitreous carbon system

• Published in: Scripta materialia 1996-03, Vol.34 (6), p.841-846
• Main Authors: Landry, K., Kalogeropoulou, S., Eustathopoulos, N., Naidich, Y., Krasovsky, V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Exact sciences and technology; Metals. Metallurgy; Physics; Solid-fluid interfaces; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Wetting
• ISSN: 1359-6462; 1872-8456
• DOI: 10.1016/1359-6462(95)00581-1

Several studies, over the last twenty years, have focused on the wettability of carbon by aluminium. However, the experimental data concerning this system, at temperatures < 1273 K, are very scattered and even conflicting. For instance, at 1073 K, the contact angle varies, depending on the study, from > 160 deg to < 30 deg . This can be attributed to a variety of difficulties. First, it has been well established from wetting studies for aluminium on other substrates, for instance Al sub 2 O sub 3 , that an aluminium oxide layer covering the surface of the molten aluminium can increase the contact angle by several tens of degrees. Moreover, the roughness of ceramic surfaces is also responsible for a wide range of contact angles. This is particularly true for polycrystalline graphite substrates which are difficult to polish. Finally, the Al/C system is reactive, and numerous contact angles can be observed depending on the degree of progress of the interfacial reactions. The aim of this work was to identify the characteristic contact angles in the Al/C system.