Dynamic wetting and heat transfer at the initiation of aluminum solidification on copper substrates

Dynamic wetting and heat transfer during the start of solidification were studied with the help of molten aluminum droplets falling from a crucible onto a copper substrate. A high-speed camera captured the change in the spreading droplet’s geometry, while thermocouple, inserted inside the substrate, allowed a heat transfer analysis to be performed. Droplet spreading factors and interfacial heat fluxes were then used to, respectively, characterize dynamic wetting and heat transfer for the various experimental conditions explored. These were: (1) effects of chemical composition of the aluminum alloy, (2) initial temperature of the substrate, (3) surface roughness of the substrate, and (4) composition of the gaseous atmosphere. The experiments were all carried out in gaseous atmospheres containing oxygen in sufficient amount to form oxide skins at the surface of the droplets and the substrates. The results showed instances where an improvement in the dynamic wetting was accompanied by an increase in heat transfer during the early stages of solidification but this was not systematic. In these cases where a positive correlation was not observed, it was postulated this was caused by factors such as variations in the oxidation at the surface of the substrates and the droplets as well as gas trapped at the interface between the droplets and the substrates. Sébastien Leboeuf formerly with the Aluminum Technology Centre and McGill University.