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Results for “Parabolic Flight”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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4 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Directional solidification of aqueous TiO 2 suspensions under reduced gravity

Porous materials exhibiting aligned, elongated pore structures can be created by directional solidification of aqueous suspensions—where particles are rejected from a propagating ice front and form interdendritic, particle-packed walls—followed by sublimation of the ice, and sintering of the particle walls. Theoretical models that predict dendritic lamellae spacing—and thus wall and pore width in the final materials—are currently limited due to an inability to account for gravity-driven convective effects during solidification. In this work, aqueous suspensions of 10–30 nm TiO 2 nanoparticles are solidified on parabolic flights under micro-, lunar (~0.17 g; g l = 1.62 m/s 2 ), and Martian (~0.38 g; g m = 3.71 m/s 2 ) gravity and compared to terrestrially-solidified samples. After ice sublimation and sintering, all resulting TiO 2 materials exhibit elongated lamellar pores replicating the ice dendrites. Furthermore, increasing the TiO 2 fraction in the suspensions leads to decreased lamellar spacing in all samples, regardless of gravitational acceleration. Consistent with previous studies of microgravity solidification of binary metallic alloys, lamellar spacing decreases with increasing gravitational acceleration. Furthermore, mean lamellar spacing for 20 wt% TiO 2 nanoparticles suspensions under micro-, lunar, Martian, and terrestrial gravity are, respectively: 50 ± 8, 34 ± 11, 30 ± 6, and 23 ± 9 μm, indicating that gravity-driven convection strongly affects lamellae spacing under terrestrial gravity conditions. Gravitational effects on lamellar spacing are highest at low TiO 2 fractions in the suspension; for 5 wt% TiO 2 suspensions, the microgravity lamellar spacing is more than twice that under terrestrial gravity (182 ± 21 vs. 81 ± 23 μm). Results of this study are in good agreement with previous studies of binary metallic alloy solidification where primary dendrite spacing increases under microgravity. Additionally, literature data from ice-templating systems are used to discuss a dependence on lamellae spacing of the density ratio of particles and fluid.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Demonstration and analysis of volumetric additive manufacturing via sub-orbital spaceflight testing

Computed Axial Lithography (CAL) represents a significant advancement in the emerging field of Volumetric Additive Manufacturing (VAM). CAL addresses key limitations of traditional photopolymer additive manufacturing technologies, by eliminating the need for layering and support structures. Unlike conventional methods, CAL prints components by illuminating all points within a desired geometry simultaneously, using tomographic reconstruction to form the object in a single step. This unique approach eliminates the relative motion between the object and the precursor material, enabling faster printing speeds and reducing the waste associated with support structures. However, CAL parts require post-processing steps before they can be utilized. CAL's core attributes make it particularly suited for In-Space Manufacturing (ISM), due to its fast fabrication times, wide breadth of materials it can use, and minimized footprint. CAL has been successfully demonstrated in microgravity during parabolic flight experiments. However to fully validate and understand CAL's behaviour in microgravity, all manufacturing and post-processing steps must be integrated. In June 2024, we conducted SpaceCAL Mission 3, testing this entire workflow on a suborbital flight aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. During ~140 s of microgravity, the system autonomously manufactured and post-processed four parts using PEGDA700 resin. Post-flight analysis showed that 2/4 parts were recognisable, while others were distorted due to bubble formation from residual water droplets, off-axis optical aberrations, and non-uniform solvent rinsing. Despite these limitations, this study represents the first integrated CAL workflow in space, providing an initial experimental demonstration and analysis for closed-loop in-space manufacturing.

Waddell, Taylor [Department of Mechanical Engineer↗
DOE OSTI2017

Incorporation of velocity-dependent restitution coefficient and particle surface friction into kinetic theory for modeling granular flow cooling

Kinetic theory (KT) has been successfully used to model rapid granular flows in which particle interactions are frictionless and near elastic. However, it fails when particle interactions become frictional and inelastic. For example, the KT is not able to accurately predict the free cooling process of a vibrated granular medium that consists of inelastic frictional particles under microgravity. The main reason that the classical KT fails to model these flows is due to its inability to account for the particle surface friction and its inelastic behavior, which are the two most important factors that need be considered in modeling collisional granular flows. In this study, we have modified the KT model that is able to incorporate these two factors. The inelasticity of a particle is considered by establishing a velocity-dependent expression for the restitution coefficient based on many experimental studies found in the literature, and the particle friction effect is included by using a tangential restitution coefficient that is related to the particle friction coefficient. Theoretical predictions of the free cooling process by the classical KT and the improved KT are compared with the experimental results from a study conducted on an airplane undergoing parabolic flights without the influence of gravity [Y. Grasselli, G. Bossis, and G. Goutallier, Europhys. Lett. 86, 60007 (2009)]. Our results show that both the velocity-dependent restitution coefficient and the particle surface friction are important in predicting the free cooling process of granular flows; the modified KT model that integrates these two factors is able to improve the simulation results and leads to better agreement with the experimental results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Convergence of shock waves between conical and parabolic boundaries

Convergence of shock waves, generated by underwater electrical explosions of cylindrical wire arrays, between either parabolic or conical bounding walls is investigated. A high-current pulse with a peak of ∼550 kA and rise time of ∼300 ns was applied for the wire array explosion. Strong self-emission from an optical fiber placed at the origin of the implosion was used for estimating the time of flight of the shock wave. 2D hydrodynamic simulations coupled with the equations of state of water and copper showed that the pressure obtained in the vicinity of the implosion is ∼7 times higher in the case of parabolic walls. However, comparison with a spherical wire array explosion showed that the pressure in the implosion vicinity in that case is higher than the pressure in the current experiment with parabolic bounding walls because of strong shock wave reflections from the walls. It is shown that this drawback of the bounding walls can be significantly minimized by optimization of the wire array geometry.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗