The surface tension of molten tin has been determined by the sessile drop method at temperatures ranging from 523 to 1033 K and in the oxygen partial pressure (P(O(2))) range from 2.85 x 10(-19) to 8.56 x 10(-6) MPa, and its dependence on temperature and oxygen partial pressure has been analyzed. At P(O(2))=2.85 x 10(-19) and 1.06 x 10(-15) MPa, the surface tension decreases linearly with the increase of temperature and its temperature coefficients are -0.151 and -0.094 mN m(-1) K(-1), respectively. However, at high P(O(2)) (3.17 x 10(-10), 8.56 x 10(-6) MPa), the surface tension increases with the temperature near the melting point (505 K) and decreases above 723 K. The surface tension decrease with increasing P(O(2)) is much larger near the melting point than at temperatures above 823 K. The contact angle between the molten tin and the alumina substrate is 158-173 degrees, and the wettability is poor.

The gravity-driven flow of a thin liquid film down a uniformly heated vertical fiber is considered. This is an unstable open flow that exhibits rich dynamics including the formation of droplets, or beads, driven by a Rayleigh-Plateau mechanism modified by the presence of gravity as well as the variation of surface tension induced by temperature disturbance at the interface. A linear stability analysis and a nonlinear simulation are performed to investigate the dynamic of axisymmetric disturbances. The results showed that the Marangoni instability and the Rayleigh-Plateau instability reinforce each other. With the increase of the thermocapillary effect, the fiber flow has a tendency to break up into smaller droplets.

a b s t r a c tThermal effects of the heat transfer at free surface (represented by Biot number) on the RayleighMarangoni-Bénard instability in a system of liquid-porous layers with top free surface are investigated numerically. The results indicate that this thermal effect can evidently lead to the mode transition of convection, which is overlooked in previous works.