Molecular dynamics simulation study on the wetting behavior of liquid iron and graphite

Abstract

Understanding the wetting behavior of the molten iron and graphite is of great significance to guide the gas permeability of the blast furnace. This paper used the molecular dynamics simulation method to analyze the wetting behavior of molten iron on the graphite substrate at the atomic scale. In this paper, it was found that high temperatures can help reduce the time it takes for the wetting process to reach equilibrium. And the graphite basal plane can promote the melting of the iron block at a temperature lower than the melting point. In addition, the graphite basal plane showed good hydrophilicity to the molten iron, and the contact angle can reach 55.65° at 2000 K. The graphite prism plane is hydrophobic to the molten iron. And the results of molecular dynamics simulation showed that high temperature can improve the hydrophilicity of graphite basal plane and reduce the hydrophobicity of graphite prism plane. Therefore, adjusting the temperature and the contact surface between graphite and molten iron can provide theoretical guidance for improving the gas and liquid permeability of blast furnace.