Engineering topics

Testardi, L. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Testardi, L. R..

2 records

NASA NTRS1983

Materials processing in the reduced-gravity environment of space

Studies of the effects of gravitation on the behavior of fluids and the shapes of materials for the years 1977-1982 are reviewed, with a focus on ground-based research which complements and gives direction to experimentation in the reduced-gravity environment of space. Fluid-behavior topics discussed include crystal growth from melts and from vapor, dendritic solidification and casting, multiphase alloy solidification, electrophoresis, convection behavior, and special heat-flow considerations characteristic of the space environment. With regard to solids, such subjects as containerless positioning technology and its applications (in glass preparation, liquid drop and shell studies, nucleation experiments, and measurements of fundamental properties of molten reactants), liquid floating zones, solid self-deformation, and sedimentation and buoyancy effects are considered and illustrated.

Carruthers, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Overview of the NASA materials processing in space program

The NASA Materials Processing in Space (MPS) Program has roots which go back to early observations of fluid materials behavior in low gravity which were made during the Apollo flights of the late sixties. A few years later the MPS program became established formally in organization and budget. Its goals today are to improve fundamental understanding of the role of gravity in the processing of materials, to provide facilities for low-gravity experimentation with, and low-gravity processing of, candidate materials, and to assist American industry in the early commercialization of space processing. A continuing element of this program is through ground-based research to yield new knowledge, to establish a need for flight experimentation, and to identify the conditions, controls, and data for maximum use of this presently limited resource. To this program element, which must continue, the period of space experimentation has now been joined with the successful inauguration of the Space Shuttle flights.

Testardi, L. R.↗