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Surface tension of silicon based and zirconium based alloys is one of the most important parameters for reactive melt infiltration of SiC and/or ZrC based ceramic composites. However, the high melting points and reactivity of these alloys with oxygen make it difficult and expensive to experimentally measure these alloys’ surface tension. The aim of present work was to calculate the surface tension of these alloys based on thermodynamic data and Butler model. The surface tension of silicon based alloys increased with an increase in zirconium concentration while that of the zirconium based alloys decreased with an increase in silicon concentration. Both silicon based and zirconium based alloys were found to have negative coefficients of temperature for surface tension. The calculated surface tension values were in good agreement with published experimental data, which indicated that the calculation model and database were effective for calculating surface tension of silicon based and zirconium based alloys.

surface tension, Si-Zr system, calculation, Butler model, reactive melt infiltration.