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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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NASA NTRS2006

Floating the Ball: Advances in the Technology of Electrostatic Levitation

Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) is an emerging technology. The MSFC ESL is a NASA facility that supports investigations of refractory solids and melts. The facility can be used to process a wide variety of materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses and semiconductors. Containerless processing via ESL provides a high-purity environment for the study of high temperature materials and access to metastable states. Scientific topics investigated in the facility include nucleation, undercooling, metastable state formation and metallic glass formation. Additionally, the MSFC ESL provides data for the determination of phase diagrams, time-temperature-transition diagrams, viscosity, surface tension, density, heat capacity and creep resistance. In order to support a diverse research community, the MSFC ESL facility has developed a number of technical capabilities, including a portable system for in situ studies of structural tran$hrmations during processing at the high-energy X-ray beamline at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory. The capabilities of the MSFC ESL facilities will be discussed and selected results of materials processing and characterization studies will be presented.

Rogers, Jan R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

The Electrostatic Levitation Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Containerless processing is an important area of research in materials science. Electrostatic levitation (ESL) represents an emerging technology which permits containerless processing in a vacuum environment. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) established a levitation facility to provide a critical resource to the microgravity materials science research community to continue and enhance ground-based research in the support of the development of flight experiments during the transition to Space Station. During ESL processing, charged specimens are levitated in the electrostatic field produced by the system's electrodes. Three sets of positioning electrodes represent the heart of the MSFC system. Two dual-axis position sensitive detectors provide input for the PID control-loop computer. Sample position is maintained by adjusting the control voltages for the power supplies of the positioning electrodes. A UV source refreshes the charge on specimens during processing via the photoelectric effect. Lasers permit sample heating independent of positioning. The processing chamber typically operates under vacuum condition approximately = 10(exp -7) Torr. Electrostatic levitation provides a materials science research tool for investigations of refractory solids and melts. Topics of investigation include thermophysical properties, phase equilibria, metastable phase formation, undercooling and nucleation, time-temperature-transformation diagrams and other aspects of materials processing. Current capabilities and recent results of processing studies for metals, alloys and oxides will be reviewed.

Rogers, Jan R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

MSFC Nuclear Propulsion Materials Development

Nuclear propulsion systems for spacecraft applications present numerous technical challenges for propulsion systems. They have been the focus of a recent NRA. Challenges inclue: a nuclear reactor subsystem to produce thermal energy; a power conversion subsystem to convert the thermal energy into electrical energy; a propulsion subsystem that utilizes Hall effect thrusters; thruster technologies and high temperature materials to support subsystems. The MSFC Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) Facility provides an ideal platform for the study of high temperature and reactive materials. An overview of the facility and its capabilities will be presented.

Rogers, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Electrostatic Levitation for Studies of Additive Manufacturing Materials for Extreme Environments

The electrostatic levitation (ESL) laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is a national resource for researchers developing advanced materials for new technologies. Researchers have used MSFC's ESL Laboratory to develop advanced high-temperature materials for aerospace applications, coatings and structural materials for rocket nozzles, improved medical and industrial optics, metallic glasses, ablatives for reentry vehicles, and materials with memory. Modeling of additive manufacturing materials for extreme environments is necessary for the control of their resulting materials properties. Unfortunately, there is very little materials properties data for many additive manufacturing materials, especially of the materials in the liquid state. The MSFC ESL lab is ideal for the study of additive manufacturing materials to be used in extreme environments. The lab can provide density, surface tension, and viscosity of molten materials, emissivity measurements, and even creep strength measurements.

SanSoucie, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2007

Ultra-High Temperature Materials Characterization for Space and Missile Applications

Numerous advanced space and missile technologies including propulsion systems require operations at high temperatures. Some very high-temperature materials are being developed to meet these needs, including refractory metal alloys, carbides, borides, and silicides. System design requires data for materials properties at operating temperatures. Materials property data are not available at the desired operating temperatures for many materials of interest. The objective of this work is to provide important physical property data at ultra-high temperatures. The MSFC Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) facility can provide measurements of thermophysical properties which include: creep strength, emissivity, density and thermal expansion. ESL uses electrostatic fields to position samples between electrodes during processing and characterization experiments. Samples float between the electrodes during studies and are free from any contact with a container or test apparatus. This provides a high purity environment for the study of high-temperature, reactive materials. ESL can be used to process a wide variety of materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses and semiconductors. A system for the determination of total hemispherical emissivity is being developed for the MSFC ESL facility by AZ Technology Inc. The instrument has been designed to provide emissivity measurements for samples during ESL experiments over the temperature range 700-3400K. A novel non-contact technique for the determination of high-temperature creep strength has been developed. Data from selected ESL-based characterization studies will be presented. The ESL technique could advance space and missile technologies by advancing the knowledge base and the technology readiness level for ultra-high temperature materials. Applications include non-eroding nozzle materials and lightweight, high-temperature alloys for turbines and structures.

Rogers, Jan↗
NASA NTRS2006

Non-Contact Measurements of Creep Properties of Refractory Materials

State-of-the-art technologies for hypersonic aircraft, nuclear electric/thermal propulsion for spacecraft, and more efficient jet engines are driving ever more demanding needs for high-temperature (>2000 C) materials. At such high temperatures, creep rises as one of the most important design factors to be considered. Since conventional measurement techniques for creep resistance are limited to about 17OO0C, a new technique is in demand for higher temperatures. This paper presents a non-contact method using electrostatic levitation (ESL) which is applicable to both metallic and non-metallic materials. The samples were rotated quickly enough to cause creep deformation by centrifugal acceleration. The deformation of the samples was captured with a high speed camera and then the images were analyzed to estimate creep resistance. Finite element analyses were performed and compared to the experiments to verify the new method. Results are presented for niobium and tungsten, representative refractory materials at 2300 C and 2700 C respectively.

Lee, Jonghyun↗
NASA NTRS2007

Ultra-High Temperature Materials Characterization for Propulsion Applications

Propulsion system efficiency increases as operating temperatures are increased. Some very high-temperature materials are being developed, including refractory metal alloys, carbides, borides, and silicides. System design requires data for materials properties at operating temperatures. Materials property data are not available for many materials of interest at the desired operating temperatures (up to approx. 3000 K). The objective of this work is to provide important physical property data at ultra-high temperatures. The MSFC Electrostatic levitation (ESL) facility can provide measurements of thermophysical properties which include: creep strength, density and thermal expansion for materials being developed for propulsion applications. The ESL facility uses electrostatic fields to position samples between electrodes during processing and characterization studies. Because the samples float between the electrodes during studies, they are free from any contact with a container or test apparatus. This provides a high purity environment for the study of high-temperature, reactive materials. ESL can be used to process a wide variety of materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses and semiconductors. The MSFC ESL has provided non-contact measurements of properties of materials up to 3400 C. Density and thermal expansion are measured by analyzing digital images of the sample at different temperatures. Our novel, non-contact method for measuring creep uses rapid rotation to deform the sample. Digital images of the deformed samples are analyzed to obtain the creep properties, which match those obtained using ASTM Standard E-139 for Nb at 1985 C. Data from selected ESL-based characterization studies will be presented. The ESL technique could support numerous propulsion technologies by advancing the knowledge base and the technology readiness level for ultra-high temperature materials. Applications include non-eroding nozzle materials and lightweight, high-temperature alloys for turbines and structures.

Rogers, Jan↗