The measurement of solid-liquid surface energies in the Al-Cu,Al-Si and Pb-Sn systems

A technique has been developed to routinely measure solid-liquid surface energies in eutectic systems. The shape of grain boundary cusps were measured after annealing in a temperature gradient. A numerical model was developed to calculate the temperature around the cusp in alloys which have different thermal conductivities in the two phases. Values for the solid-liquid surface energy and the Gibbs-Thomson constant have been obtained for solid Al in Al-Cu solution, solid Al in Al-Si solution, solid CuAl₂ in Al-Cu solution, solid Si in Al-Si solution, solid Sn in Pb-Sn solution and solid Pb in Pb-Sn solution. Grain boundary measurements were also made for the same materials. During the experiment accurate measurements were made of the thermal conductivities for different alloys in the Al-Cu, Al-Si and Pb-Sn systems.