Motion of liquid and stabilising particles in individual liquid aluminium alloy films.

Liquid metallic films are the constituting elements of metallic foams and are governed by a complex interplay between the liquid—here aluminium alloys—, the film stabilising solid particles contained in the melt, and the gas phase. We use synchrotron X-ray radioscopy to study particle dynamics and analyse particle motions by applying novel image processing techniques. We find that particles move alone and as clusters. They may move permanently with the melt or can be trapped by the film surface and subsequently even de-trapped again. The aim of this work is to observe interactions between particles or particle clusters and the film surfaces, and to understand how liquid flow in films is reduced and film stability increased by such particles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]