Viscosity measurements of metallic melts using the oscillating drop technique

By means of benchmarking reduced gravity experiments, we have verified the measured viscosity of binary Zr-Ni glass forming liquids utilizing the oscillating drop technique combined with ground-based electrostatic levitation ( ESL). Reliable viscosity data can be obtained as long as internal viscous damping of a single oscillation mode of a levitated drop dominates external perturbations. This can be verified by the absence of a sample mass dependence of the results. Hence, ESL is an excellent tool for studying the viscosity of metallic glass forming melts in the range of about 10-250 mPa s, with sample masses below 100 mg. To this end, we show that, for binary Zr-Ni melts, the viscosity is qualitatively controlled by the packing density. Published by AIP Publishing.