Investigation of the fragmentation of molten metals dropped into cold water

The physical mechanism by which small quantities of molten metal fragment extensively when dropped into a pool of cold water was investigated. Since this subject has been the focus of considerable research in the past, some of the more prominent theories are briefly discussed. Experiments were conducted dropping small solid spheres at a high temperature instead of molten metal drops, and indicate a significant difference from the latter. Several hypotheses were proposed based on the hydrodynamics of the molten drop and tested analytically. The theory that the drop fragmentation is caused by the violent release of dissolved gas from within the drop was investigated experimentally and lead to the conclusion that tin fragmentation probably does not occur in this way. It is felt that a calculation of the dynamics of the vapor film that would be expected to surround the hot drop is needed. This calculation was not performed but several suggestions and estimates have been made. It would seem that the possibility of metal fragmentation by rapid vaporization of water entrapped within the metal drop is well worth investigating