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Reger, J. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Reger, J. L..

Experimental development of processes to produce homogenized alloys of immiscible metals, phase 3

An experimental drop tower package was designed and built for use in a drop tower. This effort consisted of a thermal analysis, container/heater fabrication, and assembly of an expulsion device for rapid quenching of heated specimens during low gravity conditions. Six gallium bismuth specimens with compositions in the immiscibility region (50 a/o of each element) were processed in the experimental package: four during low gravity conditions and two under a one gravity environment. One of the one gravity processed specimens did not have telemetry data and was subsequently deleted for analysis since the processing conditions were not known. Metallurgical, Hall effect, resistivity, and superconductivity examinations were performed on the five specimens. Examination of the specimens showed that the gallium was dispersed in the bismuth. The low gravity processed specimens showed a relatively uniform distribution of gallium, with particle sizes of 1 micrometer or less, in contrast to the one gravity control specimen. Comparison of the cooling rates of the dropped specimens versus microstructure indicated that low cooling rates are more desirable.

Reger, J. L.

Study on processing immiscible materials in zero gravity

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate mixing immiscible metal combinations under several process conditions. Under one-gravity, these included thermal processing, thermal plus electromagnetic mixing, and thermal plus acoustic mixing. The same process methods were applied during free fall on the MSFC drop tower facility. The design is included of drop tower apparatus to provide the electromagnetic and acoustic mixing equipment, and a thermal model was prepared to design the specimen and cooling procedure. Materials systems studied were Ca-La, Cd-Ga and Al-Bi; evaluation of the processed samples included the morphology and electronic property measurements. The morphology was developed using optical and scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analyses. Electronic property characterization of the superconducting transition temperatures were made using an impedance change-tuned coil method.

Reger, J. L.

Superconducting properties of Pb-Sn-In alloys directionally solidified aboard Skylab

Superconducting alloys of Pb-Sn-In were directionally solidified in the absence of gravity-induced convection and segregation by processing in a near weightless condition aboard Skylab. Lead-rich and tin-rich lamellar structures were obtained with both high and low G/R (temperature gradient/solidification rate) samples processed at 0-g and at 1-g in a ground-based laboratory. Thinner, higher density lamellae were found with the 0-g specimens. Magnetization curves at 4.2 K showed hysteresis effects with large areas under the curves indicating magnetic flux pinning by the normal state tin-rich phase.

Anderson, W. T., Jr.

Preparation and metallurgical properties of low gravity processed immiscible materials

Initial experiments conducted during the Apollo 14 mission demonstrated that unique dispersions of immiscible materials could be obtained by processing in a low gravity environment. Subsequently, seven metallic systems have been processed in three NASA facilities: the drop tower at MSFC, the M-512 facility on board a KC-135 aircraft and the M-518 furnace on board Skylab. All couples were solidified from the liquid while in a low gravity environment, with one gravity processed specimens as controls. Metallographic examination demonstrated that the specimens processed in a low gravity environment exhibited a more uniform dispersion and microstructure than the one gravity processed controls.

Reger, J. L.

Low gravity processing of immiscible materials.

Description of the procedures followed and results obtained in low-gravity processing experiments conducted during the Apollo 14 mission and on two NASA-operated short-duration low gravity facilities. The discussed experiments include the Apollo-14 composite casting demonstration, the Marshall Space Flight Center drop tower tests, and the KC-135 Aircraft/M512 Facility tests. Future low gravity experiments are pointed out.

Reger, J. L.

Test and evaluation of Apollo 14 composite casting demonstration specimens 6, 9, and 12, phase 1

Flight and control specimens 6, 9, and 12 from the Apollo 14 composite casting demonstration were evaluated with respect to the degree of dispersion achieved for mixtures of immiscible materials under one-gravity and low gravity environments. The flight and control capsules 6, 9, and 12 contained paraffin and sodium acetate; paraffin, sodium acetate and argon; and paraffin, sodium acetate and 100 micrometer diameter tungsten microspheres, respectively. The evaluation and documentation utilized photographic and microstructure examinations, density measurements, and droplet size and distribution determinations. In addition, theoretical analyses were performed in order to aid in the understanding of the fluid behavior of the specimens during processing and subsequent solidification. A comparison of evaluated data with the theoretical analyses reveals that although the immiscible materials were uniquely dispersed in a low gravity environment, nonuniform dispersions were obtained primarily due to insufficient initial mixing and an essentially unidirectional thermal gradient during cooldown.

Reger, J. L.