Abstract
In this report, the wettability of molten Al alloys with SiC powder is discussed using mercury porosimetric analysis. Al-SiC powder compacts with a composition of SiC-30mass%Al are used as the starting materials. Wettability can be evaluated from their pore size distribution after heating. In the pure Al-SiC system, the increase in temperature increases the open-pore size and the open-porosity of specimens, resulting in high wettability. The addition of a slight amount of Mg to Al significantly increases the wettability. We conclude that the decrease in surface tension of molten Al alloys is seriously effective to improve the wettability.
