Surface tension and wetting behaviour of molten Bi–Pb alloys

The present work represents an experimentally based investigation on the surface properties of molten Bi, Pb and Bi–Pb alloys. The surface tensions of the two pure elements and of seven alloys were measured by the sessile-drop method over the temperature range 623–773 K. In addition the wetting behaviour of the eutectic Bi–Pb alloy on AISI 316L substrate was also investigated in the same temperature range. The results obtained show general agreement with other reported measurements on pure elements and their alloys as well as with calculated surface tension values obtained by the application of the compound formation model (CFM).