Density and surface tension measurements of molten Al–Si based alloys

Abstract This study is part of a series of studies aimed at measuring the thermophysical properties of molten phase change material-type metallic thermal energy storage materials near 873 K (600°C). The target material is Al–Si based alloys. First, as a feasibility study, density measurements of the molten state of three Al–Si binary alloys (Al–12.2Si, Al–50Si and Al–90Si in atomic%) were performed. A highly accurate non-contact density measurement method based on the static magnetic field superposition electromagnetic levitation (EML) method was employed as the density measurement method. The validity of this experimental method was confirmed, and density of molten Al–Si base alloys (ADC12 and Al–5.9mass%Si–1.6mass%Fe) were measured as a function of temperature with an expanded uncertainty of 1.2%. In addition, the surface tension of the alloys was measured by the droplet oscillation method using the EML technique. The surface tension was successfully obtained as a function of temperature with expanded uncertainty of 2.3%.