Ultrasonic Behavior of Liquid Tin-Bismuth Alloys above Melting Point

Abstract

The sound velocity and its attenuation of three kinds of liquid tin-bismuth alloys, one eutectic composition of Bi/(Bi+Sn)=57.0 wt% and two hyper-eutectic compositions of Bi/(Bi+Sn)=63.5 and 66.7 wt%, were measured by the pulse transmission method over a range of temperatures extending from 139°C (eutectic temperature) to 190°C. The sound velocity of each liquid alloy shows the steady decrease with temperature in the measured temperature range, and the temperature coefficients of sound velocity in Bi_57.0Sn_43.0, Bi_63.5Sn_36.5 and Bi_66.7Sn_33.3, were −0.002, −0.589 and −0.660 m/s·deg at 170°C, respectively. By combining the present results with the previous data of density and thermal expansivity, the elastic and anelastic properties of liquid tin-bismuth alloys were reported, and discussion was made on the obtained results.