Oscillation of a Zirconium Droplet—Experiment and Simulations

Surface tension is an important property for processing of molten metals. Therefore, it is important to measure the surface tension accurately. Conventional contact methods for surface tension measurements compromise on accuracy due to impurities and oxidation at the molten metal and atmosphere interface. A contactless technique is being utilized for a more accurate measurement of surface tension of high temperature molten metals. A molten zirconium sample is electrostatically levitated using an electrostatic levitator at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and oscillated at its natural frequency. The surface tension of the sample is related to the frequency of oscillation by Rayleigh’s formula. The oscillation of a molten metal droplet was simulated using a CFD package Fluent. Simulated oscillation was analyzed using Matlab code and fast Fourier transform was performed to extract oscillation frequency. Results from the simulations were in good agreement with the experimental data.