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Overview of In Situ X-Ray Studies of Light Alloy Solidification in Microgravity

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Magnesium Technology 2017

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

Gravity has significant effects on alloy solidification, primarily due to thermosolutal convection and solid phase buoyancy. Since 2004, the European Space Agency has been supporting investigation of these effects by promoting in situ X-ray monitoring of the solidification of aluminium alloys on microgravity platforms, on earth, and in periodically varying g conditions. The first microgravity experiment—investigating foaming of liquid metals —was performed on board a sounding rocket, in 2008. In 2012 the first ever X-ray-monitored solidification of a fully dense metallic alloy in space was achieved: the focus was columnar solidification of an Al–Cu alloy. This was followed in 2015 by a similar experiment, investigating equiaxed solidification. Ground reference experiments were completed in all cases. In addition, experiments have been performed on board parabolic flights—where the effects of varying gravity have been studied. We review here the technical and scientific progress to date, and outline future perspectives.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to ESA for financial and practical support for this work, particularly through their Microgravity Applications Promotion (MAP) programme (XRMON: current contract number 4200020288/06/NL/VJ, and originally AO-2004-046), and their PRODEX programme. The space hardware and XRMON furnaces development was funded through ESA’s ELIPS (European Life and Physical Sciences in Space) programme. ESA support via the MAP project MicroGfoam, AO-1999-075, is also acknowledged. We are also grateful for support from the French National Space Agency (CNES), and Enterprise Ireland. Thanks are also due to Dr. Guillaume Reinhart, Dr. Andrew Murphy, and Dr. Georges Salloum-Abou-Jaoude for their active participation in this research; without them many of these results would not have been achieved.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    D. J. Browne

  2. Institute of Applied Materials, Helmholtz-zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109, Berlin, Germany

    F. García-Moreno

  3. Structure and Properties of Materials Department, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 36, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    F. García-Moreno

  4. IM2NP & Université d’Aix-Marseille, Campus St-Jérome, Case 142, 13397, Marseille, Cedex 20, France

    H. Nguyen-Thi

  5. Access e.V, Intzestrasse 5, 52072, Aachen, Germany

    G. Zimmermann

  6. Institut fur Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Linder Höne, 51147, Cologne, Germany

    F. Kargl

  7. Institut for Fysikk, Norsk Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet (NTNU), 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    R. H. Mathiesen

  8. Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM), FB 9.4 Weld Mechanics, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany

    A. Griesche

  9. Physical Sciences Office HRE-UP, Science Department, Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration Directorate, ESTEC, European Space Agency, BP 299, 2200AG, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

    O. Minster

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  1. D. J. Browne
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  2. F. García-Moreno
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. J. Browne .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona State University , Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Kiran N. Solanki

  2. Lund University , Lund, Skåne Län, Sweden

    Dmytro Orlov

  3. Structural Materials Unit, National Inst for Materials Sci Structural Materials Unit, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Alok Singh

  4. IND LLC , South Jordan, Utah, USA

    Neale R. Neelameggham

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© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Browne, D.J. et al. (2017). Overview of In Situ X-Ray Studies of Light Alloy Solidification in Microgravity. In: Solanki, K., Orlov, D., Singh, A., Neelameggham, N. (eds) Magnesium Technology 2017. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52392-7_80

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