Diffraction study of calcium aluminate glasses and melts: II. High energy x-ray diffraction on melts

High energy x-ray diffraction measurements have been performed on CaO–Al2O3 liquids suspended in a flow of pure argon for six compositions containing 50–67 mol% CaO. The results indicate that AlO4 tetrahedra dominate the liquid structure. The radial distribution functions show a significant broadening of the Ca–O peak occurs in the liquid compared to the corresponding glass and, on average, each Ca is surrounded by approximately five oxygen atoms in the melt at a distance of 2.3 A° . It is also found that the structure for the eutectic (64% CaO) liquid does not change measurably with temperature between 1600 and 1970 ◦C.