Studies on the surface oxidation of molten aluminium - Silicon alloys using laser as a probe

Abstract

An attempt has been made to study for the first time the surface oxidation of molten aluminium-silicon alloy using laser as a probe. A ray of low powered laser was made to fall on freshly prepared surface of molten aluminium-silicon alloy and intensity of the reflected beam was measured using a light detecting resistor (LDR). The change in intensity of reflected laser beam which was due to surface degradation of the molten liquid on oxidation was recorded. Intensity profile which showed variation of intensity (registered as reciprocal of resistance on LDR) with respect to time was generated for pure aluminium melt and molten aluminium-silicon alloy. The intensity profile revealed three regions indicating different mechanisms of oxidation in each stage. It was found that alloying addition influences the nature of intensity profile. Copyright � 2007 MS&T'07�.