Abstract
A new experimental/numerical method is proposed to measure the surface tension coefficient of high-melting-point materials. Regular surface tension measurement methods are basically limited by proper heating procedure and more importantly by materials used for containers. In the proposed method, radio frequency - Inductively Coupled Plasma (rf-ICP) is employed to melt materials. Dynamics of melting is photographed. The surface tension dominant phenomenon of melting is then numerically modeled. Interfacial tension, as the major parameters governing the dynamics of melt, is estimated by comparison between the theory and observation. The results for copper generally agree with those obtained in previous studies. Preliminary findings suggest promising application of the method for ceramics.
