Liquid metal

About: Liquid metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6947 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77785 citations. The topic is also known as: liquid alloy & liquid metal alloy.

Prediction of electron beam welding spiking tendency

Abstract: On the basis of measured temperature distributions in electron beam welding cavities it is shown that the vapor pressure force dominates in the lower region and the surface tension in the upper region. The region where these two forces are approximately equal is unstable and the surface tension force causes inward flow of liquid metal which tends to form a projection. For a specific material this projection location was found to depend on cavity depth. By postulating that the formation of liquid metal projections at this location results in cavity instabilities, a physical model for predicting when spiking would occur was purposed. A procedure then developed for determining the spiking tendency for a specified material and set of weld parameters is described.

Bi–Sn Catalytic Foam Governed by Nanometallurgy of Liquid Metals

Abstract: Metallic foams, with intrinsic catalytic properties, are critical for heterogeneous catalysis reactions and reactor designs. Market ready catalytic foams are costly and made of multimaterial coatings with large sub-millimeter open cells providing insufficient active surface area. Here we use the principle of nanometallurgy within liquid metals to prepare nanostructured catalytic metal foams using a low-cost alloy of bismuth and tin with sub-micrometer open cells. The eutectic bismuth and tin liquid metal alloy was processed into nanoparticles and blown into a tin and bismuth nanophase separated heterostructure in aqueous media at room temperature and using an indium brazing agent. The CO2 electroconversion efficiency of the catalytic foam is presented with an impressive 82% conversion efficiency toward formates at high current density of -25 mA cm-2 (-1.2 V vs RHE). Nanometallurgical process applied to liquid metals will lead to exciting possibilities for expanding industrial and research accessibility of catalytic foams.

Breathing to harvest energy as a mechanism towards making a liquid metal beating heart

Abstract: Simulating nature to manufacture a self-powered device or motor has been an important goal in science and engineering. Conventional spontaneous motion has generally been achieved through the Marangoni flow of an organic liquid or water solution. Moreover, as a metallic material mercury has been developed as a beating heart, a kind of self-propulsion example. However, serious safety concerns about mercury restrict its extensive application. This study discovered an important mechanism to realize a GaIn alloy-based liquid metal beating heart by introducing a breathing mechanism in simulating living organisms. With the unique configuration of a semi-submerged liquid metal droplet partially immersed in alkaline solution, such a system produces a surface tension gradient perpendicular to the three-phase contact line which subsequently leads to the oscillation of the droplet and the surrounding solution. This finding suggests a feasible way to fabricate self-oscillating liquid metal motors without input of external electricity or fuels.

Physical Chemistry of Corrosion and Oxygen Control in Liquid Lead and Lead-Bismuth Eutectic

Abstract: Corrosion of steel in liquid lead (Pb) and lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) is an important factor when applying these materials as a process medium. At low oxygen content of the liquid-metal phase, the degradation results mainly from the dissolution of the steel constituents, which may significantly decrease in the presence of a continuous scale of oxides of the steel constituents on the steel surface. In order to facilitate the formation of such a scale, the oxygen content of the liquid metal has to be controlled. Therefore, a method of measuring the oxygen content must be available. This report addresses the thermodynamic fundamentals of steel corrosion in oxygen-containing liquid metals and provides the data on chemical and physical properties which is required for the determination of favourable conditions with respect to the oxygen content and the numerical analysis of the dissolution of the primary steel constituents in oxygen-containing liquid Pb and LBE. Furthermore, the measurement of the oxygen content with electrochemical oxygen sensors and the evaluation of the sensor output is discussed.