Wetting and infiltration of volatile fluorides by In-Ti melt

In this study, the effect of the volatile nature of thermodynamically stable fluorides (MgF₂, CaF₂, and BaF₂) on wetting and infiltration phenomenon is discussed. Specially designed sets of experiments under different conditions of fluoride vapor evacuation were conducted. Experiments with In-Ti (~1 at.%) drops covered by a small cap and with artificially closed and open capillaries suggested that under restricted conditions of vapor evacuation, a thin solid layer is formed on the surface of the liquid metal, mechanically preventing both the spreading of In-Ti melt at the surface of the dense substrates and liquid penetration into the porous preforms.