Contact reaction of graphite with liquid iron and iron base melts

Conclusions A study was made, by a sessile drop technique involving simultaneous heating of the specimen and the base plate, of the interfacial reactions at the melt/graphite interfaces in the systems iron/graphite, iron-carbon-containing melt/graphite, iron-copper/graphite, iron-tin/graphite, iron-germanium/graphite, iron-gallium/graphite, and iron-aluminum/graphite. It is shown that the strength of the bond between the phase in contact in the systems investigated (except the system iron-aluminum/graphite) is determined by the work of adhesion linked with the departure of the system from a state of equilibrium. A relationship has been found between isotherms of wetting of graphite by the melts investigated and the effects of tin, germanium, gallium, and copper on the solubility of carbon in the relevant ternary systems. It is demonstrated that, for systems characterized by carbide formation (the system iron-aluminum/graphite), an isotherm of wetting of graphite by melts represents a complex dependence on melt composition.Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 6 (138), pp. 64–71, June, 1974.