Wetting Behavior of LBE on 316L and T91 Surfaces with Different Roughness

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, two typical candidate structural materials of 316L and T91 with different surface roughnesses were studied at temperatures from 200–500 ℃. The surface with different roughness was prepared by mechanical polishing on the sandpapers with particle sizes from 400 to 2000 mesh. The wetting test was carried out in a smart contact angle measuring device by using the sessile-drop method. Meanwhile, the microstructure of the liquid-solid surface was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that the surfaces of both materials are non-wetting to LBE in the tested temperature range. The contact angles of LBE drop on material surfaces decrease with increasing temperature in general. However, it appears to increase significantly at 400 ℃ for both two materials. Besides, the decrease of surface roughness can effectively inhibit the wettability of LBE on the material surface. In addition, compared with 316L, the wetting of the LBE to T91 surface is better, indicating the higher tendency of LME for T91 in practical application. These results can provide references for the prediction of the LME behavior of structural materials.