Tubeless Siphon Flow of Room Temperature Liquid Metal

TL;DR

This study demonstrates tubeless siphon flow of room temperature liquid metal using a syringe pump, develops a theoretical model, and investigates how micro copper particles and corrosion affect flow properties.

Contribution

It introduces a new method for tubeless siphon flow of liquid metal and a theoretical model to predict flow configuration, considering particle effects and corrosion-induced rheological changes.

Findings

Flow height and diameter can be controlled by adjusting flow rate and tube size.

Adding micro copper particles increases extensional viscosity and enhances siphon stability.

Corrosion produces CuGa2 intermetallics that alter rheological properties.

Abstract

Tubeless siphon flow of liquid metal was made possible by way of sucking the fluid via a syringe pump with a rubber tube. Through adjusting the flow rate and tube diameter, the liquid column height and diameter can be changed accordingly. A theoretical model was derived to predict the flow configuration thus enabled. Adding micro copper particles evidently increased the extensional viscosity of liquid metal. With the increase of particle concentration, the enhancement of tubeless siphon becomes more remarkable. The intermetallic compound CuGa2 produced by corrosion was considered as the reason for the variation of rheological property of liquid metal.