Effects of magnetic field on the viscosity of molten Cu–Sn alloys

Abstract The dynamic viscosity for melts of pure copper and Cu-10 wt.%Sn was measured at the same superheated temperature using an oscillating-cup viscometer with 0–680 Gauss horizontal magnetic field. The effects of the external magnetic fields on the viscosity were analyzed. The experimental results showed that the viscosity of the melts increases with decreasing temperature and fits well with Arrhenius formula, whether the magnetic field is applied or not. According to the magnetic field strength, significant increases of the viscosity were observed. Further more we found that, by the additional tin to copper melts, there appear drastic changes in the activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the Arrhenius formula. The experiments concluded that the effects of magnetic field on the viscosity of pure copper generally larger than those of Cu-10 wt.%Sn.