An electrostatic levitation furnace (ELF) is under development for the Japanese experiment module (JEM) in the international space station, which will be operational around 2000. This paper describes the features and development status of the furnace, and some expected experiments which utilize the ELF's containerless processing environment. A containerless environment eliminates not only contamination from container walls, but heterogeneous nucleation from the walls. Therefore it is possible to sustain large undercooling for long periods of time in the ELF. Expected experiments in the ELF are related to measurements of various thermodynamic and kinetic properties of undercooled samples, study on non-equilibrium solidification with largely undercooled melts and study on properties of metastable solid phases. Knowledge of the viscosity and surface tension of melts in undercooled state will make an important role on the hydrodynamic description of fluids in the metastable state. Surface tension and viscosity can be measured by detecting surface oscillations of a levitated diop. The frequency of the oscillation is related to the surface tension, while the damping yields by the viscosity. By measuring the frequency and damping constant from the sample image, these values can be calculated. Even if it can be levitated, a liquid drop is not spherical in a gravity environment. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct a precise evaluation of the frequency spectrum of spherical drops. The microgravity environment offers the unique possibility to analyze the oscillation spectrum of spherical drops. Surface tension and viscosity of melt in deeply undercooled regime, which has not been obtained can also be measured.
Development of electrostatic levitation furnace for the International Space Station
Entwicklung eines elektrostatischen Schwebeofens für die internationale Raumstation
1996
8 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 3 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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