Reactive infiltration by Si: Infiltration versus wetting

This paper focuses on spontaneous infiltration by liquid metals in reactive metal/ceramic systems. Two cases of reactive infiltration, where a molten silicon drop is in contact with two different porous bodies, graphite and (oxidized) silicon nitride, are briefly described and discussed. For each solid, the dynamics of wetting on the solid surface is compared to the dynamics of infiltration into the porous medium in order to determine the common points and the main differences between these two processes. (C) 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.