Fundamentals of Liquid Processing in Low Earth Orbit: From Thermophysical Properties to Microstructure Formation in Metallic Alloys

Abstract

Materials science, as an interdisciplinary field with significant attention paid to nanoscience and nanotechnology in recent years, is generally concerned with the synthesis, atomic structure, chemical element distribution and various favorable properties of solid materials and structures. While solid-state processing conditions are generally insensitive to gravity effects, liquid-state processing depends considerably on gravity, leading to strong impact of interfacial phenomena (liquid/solid, liquid/liquid), momentum, heat and mass transport on solidification patterns, as well as further consequences regarding phase selection during solidification and growth conditions, segregation, etc. In this regard, it is interesting to note that almost 100% of all metallic products are, at some stage, produced through solidification and casting processes. Experiments on metallic liquids excluding the effects of gravity—which is achievable through processing in space, thus reducing gravity effects to micro-levels—allow benchmark experiments and the opening of a new realm of experimental possibilities to investigate basic features of the liquid state. The basics and several experimental results are discussed including recent experiments on long time scales under high temperature and containerless processing conditions on board the International Space Station.