The surface tension of liquid aluminium-based alloys

In a systematic study, the surface tensions of the binary alloys Al-Fe and Al-Ni were investigated over a wide temperature and concentration range using electromagnetic levitation and the oscillating drop technique. Surface tensions were derived from the oscillation frequencies applying the formalism of Cummings and Blackburn. Temperature was measured by single-color pyrometry. Of particular interest in these alloys are melts corresponding to compositions of intermetallic phases, because potential ordering phenomena may influence all thermophysical properties. In both systems, an increase of the surface tension is observed at such concentrations. On the basis of partial excess Gibbs enthalpies, surface tensions can be calculated via the Butler equation and compared with experimental results. The agreement with our experimental data depends crucially on the quality of the thermodynamic potentials used. In addition, phenomenological models are also discussed, which describe the general trend correctly.