THERMOPOWER OF PURE METALS NEAR THE MELTING-POINT AS A PARAMETER NEEDED TO CONTROL THE SOLIDIFICATION PROCESS

Since the pioneering work of Favier [these d'Etat, University of Greno ble (1977)], it has been shown that, at the solid-liquid interface, th e temperature is a function of the velocity at which the solidificatio n front advances. The experiment corresponds to measuring a very small deviation of the temperature from the solidification point of the sta tic liquid-solid interface. Following an idea suggested by Favier, the Seebeck coefficient, S(T), of some pure liquid metals in the solid an d liquid phases near the melting temperature, which is necessary to de duce the temperature difference at the junction of the differential th ermocouple including the static and moving liquid-solid interfaces, wa s determined.