Teilschmelze

TeilSchmelze, literally “partial melting,” is a concept used in materials science to describe a controlled partial melting of a multi-component material in which only a portion of the material reaches its melting temperature while the remainder remains solid. The process yields a two-phase microstructure with coexisting solid and liquid phases.

Its thermodynamics are governed by the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the constituents and by temperature gradients, pressure, and composition. As heating proceeds, the lower-melting constituents begin to form a melt first, while higher-melting components stay solid. The melt fraction can be regulated by heating rate, cooling after melting, and alloying additions.

TeilSchmelze can occur intentionally during processing or may arise unintentionally during heating in casting, annealing, soldering, additive manufacturing, or diffusion-bonding operations. In heterogeneous systems, the process promotes diffusion and redistribution of elements, refines grain structure, and can facilitate the formation of eutectic or two-phase regions upon solidification.

Applications include controlled microstructure development in metal alloys, composite fabrication, and porous materials production. In geology and earth sciences, a closely related phenomenon, partial melting of rocks, explains magmatic differentiation under geothermochemical conditions, though the environmental parameters differ from industrial contexts.

Terminology is variable. In standard German, partial melting is usually called partielle Schmelze; TeilSchmelze appears in some sources as a compound term or branded designation and is not universally standardized.

See also: partial melting, solidus, liquidus, phase diagram, diffusion, eutectic, alloy processing.