Measurement of liquid metal and alloy properties

了解金属液体的热物理性质，即密度、粘度和表面张力，以及它们在不同气体气氛下随温度的变化对工业过程至关重要。它们能够优化高温冶金过程。如果有一个完整的这些属性的数据库，将会给行业带来巨大的好处，但这些值通常很难测量，而且需要花费大量时间。已经开发了许多方法来测量这些性质，但由于高温和反应性，它们很难适用于金属液体。商业化的选择是有限的，研究人员必须投入大量资源来构建自己的测量设备。最常用的替代方案依赖于需要零重力条件的电磁悬浮方法。这些实验的成本很高，因为样本必须被送到国际空间站（ISS）或抛物线飞行来进行这些测量。总的来说，研究人员和工业界需要一种强大、方便、经济的仪器来同时测量金属液体的密度、表面张力和粘度。放电坩埚（DC）方法是一种地面替代方法，可以同时测量金属液体的密度、表面张力和粘度。该技术依赖于一个强大的数学公式，该公式描述了流体在重力作用下从容器中排出的速度如何取决于感兴趣的热物理性质。预期的产品将包括一个紧凑的装置，包括所有必要的传感器、加热和冷却元件，这些元件可以连接到一个用户友好的界面，以便对性能进行数据分析。该设备还允许用户轻松改变进行实验的气氛和调节温度。这种方法是在21世纪初由阿尔伯塔大学开发的。它可以在任何地方使用，并允许研究和工业人员以成本和时间有效的方式同时对这三种特性进行必要的测量。

Knowing the values of the thermophysical properties of metallic liquids, namely the density, the viscosity and the surface tension, but also how they evolve with temperature and under different gas atmospheres is critical for industrial proceeses. They enable the optimizization of high temperature metallurgical processes. There would be a great benefit to the industry if a complete database of these properties existed, but these values are typically difficult and time consuming to measure. Numerous methods have been developed to measure each of these properties but they are difficult to adapt for metallic liquids due to the high temperature and reactivity. Commercialized options are limited, researchers must invest significant resources to build their own measurement devices. The mostly used alternative relies on an electromagnetic levitation method which requires zero gravity conditions. The experiments are then costly as the samples must be sent to the international space station (ISS) or parabolic flights to make these measurements. Overall, there is a need for researchers and industry to have access to a robust, convenient, and cost-effective instrument to measure simultaneously the density, surface tension and viscosity of metallic liquids. The Discharge Crucible (DC) method comes as a ground-based alternative to measure simultaneously the density, surface tension and viscosity of metallic liquids. The technique relies on a robust mathematical formulation describing how the velocity of a fluid draining by gravity from a container depends on the thermophysical properties of interest. The anticipated product would consist of a compact device including all the necessary sensors, heating and cooling elements which could be connected to a user-friendly interface for data analysis of the properties. The device would also allow the user to easily change the atmosphere in which to conduct the experiment and adjust the temperature. This method was developed at the University of Alberta in the early 2000s. It can be used anywhere and allow those in research and industry to make the necessary measurements of the three properties simultaneously in a cost and time effective manner.