The separation of a liquid phase from a solid but deformable matrix made of mineral grains is controlled at small scale by surface tension. The role of interfacial surface tension is twofold as it explains how a small volume of liquid phase can infiltrate the grain boundaries, be distributed and absorbed in the matrix, but after complete wetting of the grains, surface tension favors the self-separation of the liquid and solid phases. Another consequence of surface tension is the existence of Marangoni forces, which are related to the gradients of surface tension that are are usually due to temperature variations. In this paper, using a continuous multi-phase formalism we clarify the role of these different effects and quantify their importances at the scale of laboratory experiments and in planets. We show that Marangoni forces can control the liquid metal-solid silicate phase separation in laboratory experiments. The Marangoni force might help to maintain the presence of metal at the surface of asteroids and planetesimals that have undergone significant melting.

液相与由矿物颗粒制成的固态但可变形的基质的分离是通过表面张力进行小规模控制的。界面表面张力的作用是双重的，因为它解释了少量液相如何渗透到晶界，在基质中分布和吸收，但是在晶粒完全润湿后，表面张力有利于液体的自分离。和固相。表面张力的另一个结果是存在Marangoni力，该力与通常由于温度变化而引起的表面张力梯度有关。在本文中，我们使用连续的多阶段形式主义来阐明这些不同效应的作用，并在实验室实验规模和行星中量化其重要性。我们表明，在实验室实验中，马兰戈尼力可以控制液态金属与固态硅酸盐的相分离。马兰戈尼力可能有助于维持已经发生明显熔化的小行星和小行星表面金属的存在。