The silica layer grown naturally or artificially on the surface of SiC fibres or particles used in aluminabased matrix composites is supposed to have two functions: protection of the SiC from aluminium attack and improvement of the wettability of SiC by aluminium which would result from the reaction between aluminium and SiO 2.
The effective role of silica in the wetting of aluminium on SiC was studied using the sessile drop method and the immersion-emersion tensiometric technique. Aluminium contact angles were measured first on amorphous SiO 2 and then on thermally oxidized SiC monocrystals (silica layers of 10-50 nm), between 933 K and 1173 K, and under a dynamic vacuum of 10-~-10 -~ Pa.
In the two systems it appeared that silica acts as an oxygen source which causes oxidation of liquid aluminium. As a result the wetting kinetics was slowed down and even blocked: the apparent contact angle at 973 K is very high (above 150Β°). At higher temperatures (above 1073 K) deoxidation of aluminium by evaporation of the alumina layer allowed a real interface to be established between the solid and the liquid. However, as the silica reduction reaction occurred before the wetting, the stationary contact angle of aluminium on SiO 2 was found to be that of aluminium on alumina, and the steady contact angle of aluminium on oxidized SiC was that on alumina (at temperatures less than 1073 K) or on SiC (at temperatures higher than 1173 K).
The strong reactivity between aluminium and SiO 2 cannot be used to improve the wetting of this metal on SiC. Consequently, silica layers on SiC cannot help the incorporation of particles or the infiltration of fibres by aluminium.