Behaviour of the wettability of a SiAlON-base ceramic by molten steel

The purpose of this work is to investigate the wettability and the corrosion of a SiAlON ceramic with amorphous carbon additive (5, 10 and 20 wt.%) by a SiCa treated liquid steel. The carbon additive provokes a change in the substrate nature during the sintering process. Meanwhile these substrates are not wetted and exhibit a relatively good resistance to the corrosion by molten steel mainly because of the formation of a continuous alumina layer on the substrate resulting from SiAlON oxidation. An analysis of the solid–liquid interface allows explaining the corrosion mechanisms.