Thermophysical properties of liquid Ga-In-Sn eutectic alloy

Gallium forms alloys characterized by specific properties with the majority of metals and metalloids. Many of the Ga-based alloys are low-melting; the physical and mechanical properties of some metals are enhanced when seeded with gallium. Unlike many liquid metals, the Ga-In-Sn eutectics is chemically compatible with a wide variety of metals, plastics, rubbers, and glasses at low temperatures. The alloy also has more attractive cooling and handling properties than those of Hg, Pb, and Pb alloys. Ga-In-Sn and its variant alloys have potential uses in numerous applications. It is commonly used as a mercury replacement in thermometers and tilt switches. The alloy is a working fluid for studies of bubble driven flows in industrial technologies and excellent medium for investigation of thermoelectromagnetic convection in a shallow square layer of liquid metal. Besides, this alloy shows considerable potential in liquid metal experimental research in general, mainly because of its beneficial properties and the fact that it is liquid at room temperature. Discrepancies in the reported eutectic compositions and other physical parameters require new precise measurements in order to obtain reliable data on the main thermophysical properties over a wide temperature range. In the present paper, measurements are reported on the electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power, viscosity, thermal conductivity, surface tension and density of the Ga-In-Sn eutectic in the temperature range between the melting temperature and 700 K. Related temperature correlation fits are derived and compared with those available in literature and could be recommended as input for thermodynamic simulations.