Surface tension, wettability and reactivity of molten titanium in Ti/yttria-stabilized zirconia system

The wettability and the interaction between pure liquid titanium and yttria-stabilized zirconia were investigated by the sessile drop method in argon atmosphere at 1973 K. The micrographic observations made on cross sections perpendicular to the interface using EPMA show that interfacial reactions occurred at high temperature. However, the contact angles are relative stable and larger than 90degrees within experimental duration. The density and surface tension of molten titanium found equal to 4.12 +/- 0.01 g cm(-3) and 1.46 +/- 0.05 N m(-1), respectively. The contact angle increases with increasing the substrate porosity. The influence of porosity on the wettability can be explained by analogy with the influence of surface roughness. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.