Thermodynamic property determination in low gravity

Abstract

Techniques for determining heat capacities and other properties of molten metals were investigated and critically evaluated. Precisely determining heat capacities calorimetrically in space poses several problems. The weight of a drop calorimeter block along with the necessity of obtaining a large number of data points tend to make traditional approaches appear infeasible. However, for many substances exhibiting sufficiently high thermal conductivities and with known emissivities, it appears possible to investigate their properties by observing the rate of cooling of a levitated sphere which is initially at a uniform temperature above the melting point. A special advantage of the levitation method is that considerable supercooling is expected, making the study of the heat capacities of molten metals both above and below their melting points possible.