Structural analysis and evaluation of surface tension of silicate melts containing CaO and FexO

The surface tension of silicate melts is a key property in liquid steel refining. Accurate estimation of surface tension can provide guidance for the design of slag composition and the control of the smelting process. In this study, 22 samples of the CaO–SiO 2 –Fe x O system were investigated by Raman spectroscopy to obtain the mole fraction of oxygen bonds, and structural data were interpolated to obtain the oxygen bond database within the compositional range. Based on spectral analysis, the formation mechanism of surface tension for the silicate melt was elaborated from the perspective of microstructure, and then a structure-based surface tension estimation model was developed for the present system. The root-mean-square error of the present model was 0.055 N·m −1 , indicating reasonable agreement between the predicted and experimental values, and the present estimation model had higher accuracy than Tanaka's model for the CaO–SiO 2 –Fe x O system and its subsystems.