A1CuMgZn单晶合金的空间凝固

重力对合金凝固过程与缺陷形成具有重要影响.在常规地面条件下难以清晰揭示凝固过程中的重力效应及其作用规律,而在微重力环境中重力对熔体的作用以及对凝固过程的影响大大降低.利用天宫二号空间实验并结合地面对比实验,研究AlCuMgZn单晶合金在微重力和重力环境下枝晶生长形貌和特征参数差异以及成分偏析和缺陷形成的异同,揭示重力对枝晶生长过程和成分偏析等现象的影响及其在凝固缺陷形成中的作用.     

空间飞行与回转器回旋条件下青菜开花与花粉发育的研究

比较研究了SJ-8返回式卫星留轨舱微重力条件与地面三维回转模拟微重力条件下青菜生长与发育情况.研究发现空间微重力条件下青菜开花过程需要大约18 h,明显长于地面对照5 h左右.回转器模拟实验结果表明,改变重力影响了花瓣的伸展与发育及花粉的产量,回转条件下花粉细胞中的微管排列明显不同于静止对照.细胞骨架受到干扰可能是改变重力条件下花粉产量降低的原因之一.本研究首次报道了在空间飞行试验中成功地采用了显微实时图像技术观察植物的开花过程,并获得了从花蕾到开花结束各阶段清晰的图像.      

低真空、微重力对空间装置中气体自然对流传热的相似影响

以空间装置中气体自然对流传热问题为目标,导出显含温度和压强两个独立热力学参数的Rayleigh 数和Knudsen 数的表达式,分析了各个特征压强段气体传热的不同状态,比较了在连续介质流动中低真空(压强大于10Pa)和微重力对空间装置中气体自然对流传热的相似影响,导出了气体压强与重力对低真空气体自然对流的影响的相似性关系式,由此可以推断低真空或微重力状态下气体自然对流的强弱的相互关系。     

微重力下胶原蛋白纤维化及羟基磷灰石结晶的初步研究

在长期空间飞行过程中, 骨质丢失是一个严重问题. 羟基磷灰石(HAP)晶体是骨骼的主要成分, 骨骼中的胶原蛋白纤维在HAP生长结晶过程中起到关键作用. 研究了胶原蛋白纤维化过程在模拟微重力和常重力条件下的变化, 对以胶原 蛋白纤维作为模板生长出的HAP晶体形貌进行了观察. 结果表明, 不同浓度胶原蛋白溶液中形成的胶原蛋白纤维, 其内部孔隙数量和尺寸在模拟微重力条件下要明显大于常重力条件下, 胶原蛋白纤维内部孔隙的分布也不同于常重力条 件下的结果. 以模拟微重力条件下形成的胶原蛋白纤维为模板生长出的HAP 晶体主要为立方体状, 而以常重力条件下形成的胶原蛋白纤维为模板生长出的 HAP晶体形貌主要为板状. 该结果有助于未来进一步阐明空间骨质丢失的机理.      

碲化铋基热电半导体晶体空间生长

碲化铋基热电半导体是中低温区高性能热电材料,在热电致冷、电子器件精确控温领域获得了重要应用,且在更多领域具有广泛应用前景.碲化铋基材料通常采用区熔法制备,材料的性能优值ZT约为0.8.应用要求进一步提高其ZT值.合金化和掺杂优化是提高碲化铋基材料性能的有效途径,但会使得材料的化学成分越来越复杂.重力条件下区熔的固有问题是,重力导致的浮力对流和壁附效应凸显,使区熔碲化铋基材料成分和性能波动较大.空间微重力可以消除重力导致的浮力对流和壁附效应,有望提高碲化铋基材料的成分均匀性和热电性能.本文根据碲化铋基材料空间微重力下区熔生长研究状况,对实践十号科学实验卫星和天宫二号空间实验室将开展的碲化铋基材料空间微重力区熔生长研究进行了分析.      

微重力池沸腾传热研究

对利用中国返回式卫星搭载开展的两次微重力池沸腾空间实验及地基常重力和落塔短时微重力实验的结果进行了评述. 研究发现微重力时丝状加热器沸腾传热会略有强化, 而平板加热器则在高热流条件下明显恶化. 微重力时, 气泡脱落前存在沿加热面的横向运动, 加剧了相邻气泡间的合并, 合并气泡会在其表面振荡作用下从加热面脱落. Marangoni 效应对于微重力气泡行为有重要影响.      

重力对单气泡生长特性的影响

采用VOF (Volume of Fluid)多相流模型, 通过用户自定义函数UDF (User Defined Function)实现相变过程中质量和能量的输运, 对微重力条件下尺寸为10mm × 10mm × 25mm的矩形通道的池沸腾现象进行数值模拟, 得到了微重力及常重力作用下单个气泡生长特性的差异. 模拟结果表明, 微重力条件下气泡周围的流线与温度场的分布有显著差异; 由于表面张力作用, 微重力下的气泡脱离特性与常重力下不同; 在微重力条件下, 气泡直径的变化比较复杂, 并与重力加速度的大小有关; Marangoni流对微重力下的流动影响很大, 使换热系数波动, 而且波动的幅度随重力加速度的减小而增大.      

一种空间相变换热器热设计与仿真分析及其改进

基于相变计算方法即焓法处理相变材料凝固/融化模型,对一个以水为主动冷却介质,内填充石蜡类相变蓄热材料的板式相变换热器的换热进行数值模拟.得到了不同重力条件下冷却面的温度分布,相变材料在融化过程中的动态温度场分布、相变界面分布、融化时间等结果,验证了该相变换热器的可行性.对比该相变换热器在重力与微重力不同条件下的性能差异,利用添加强化传热肋片与泡沫复合相变材料方法,提高了微重力条件下该类相变换热器的效率,可为空间相变蓄热装置的设计及实验研究提供重要参考.      

微重力环境下的表面张力及无接触测量

表面张力是材料重要的物理化学参数之一, 尤其在微重力条件下, 由表面张力引起的科学现象一直备受关注. 静滴法是地面重力条件下进行熔体表面张力测量的主要方法, 该方法的测量结果精确, 但在微重力环境下该法应用尚存在一些问题. 本文基于对表面张力理论的思考, 阐述了对其测量方法的认识和见解, 并讨论了地面上采用静滴法对熔体的表面张力进行测量研究以及静滴法在微重力条件下应用的困难. 进而介绍了利用悬浮技术进行熔体表面张力测量的无接触测量方法, 特别介绍了电磁悬浮法, 该法避免了由于容器接触带入杂质所引起的误差, 尤其在微重力条件下消除了重力的影响, 测量精度得到显著提高.      

中国微重力科学研究回顾与展望

微重力科学主要研究微重力环境中物质运动的规律，以及不同重力环境中重力对物质运动的影响.中国微重力科学研究起步于20世纪60年代，兴起于80年代中后期，经过多年发展，目前已初具规模，在一些重要方向具有明显特色和一定优势.本文回顾了中国微重力科学研究的早期历程，评述了近年来中国微重力科学研究进展，特别是利用实践十号科学实验卫星、天宫二号空间实验室等空间平台开展的微重力科学与技术应用研究取得的最新成果，并对中国载人空间站时代微重力科学发展的前景予以瞻望，推动微重力科学与应用研究在中国的快速、可持续发展.      

我国首次空间微重力下的材料加工试验

1987年8月5日至10日,我国首次利用返回卫星进行了空间微重力下的材料加工实验。本次试验共有12个项目,其中砷化镓单晶生长达到国际先进水平,Y-Ba-Cu高温超导材料试验则为世界首次,HgCdTe红外材料,Insb半导体材料和难混合全都取得了地面不能得到的结果。这次试验的多用途加工炉吸收了国外空间加工技术的特点,构思巧妙、效果明显.一炉多用开创空间搭载的新路子。     

Progress of microgravity material research during the period of 2007—2009

Orbital experimental researches on crystal growth of Mn-doped GaSb and Bi2Se0.21Te2.79 are briefly summarized. The space experiments were completed in September of 2007 on broad the Foton-M3 satellite of Russia. Ground-based researches on the solidification behaviors of Al-Al3Ni, Al-Al2Cu, Ag-Cu eutectic, Al-Pb monotectic and Cu-Co peritectic alloys in a 50-meter-high drop tube were investigated. New experimental results on the ultrasonic field and the temperature recycling induced to chiral symmetry breaking of NaClO3 crystal also were reported in the present paper.      

用电磁力模拟空间微重力效应制备二元偏晶合金

提出了一种在地面利用电磁场与金属熔体的相互作用来模拟失重效应的方法。探讨了实现准失重环境的可能性,建立了准失重模拟装置。并成功地制备了均匀的Pb-Zn二元偏晶合金样品。实验结果表明,用此方法进行微重效应模拟可消除重力造成的斯托克斯(Stokes)沉积,制备的Pb-Zn二元偏晶合金中的弥散体(Pb)分布均匀,铅粒子的形状主要为微米量级的小球。与我们在我国返回式实验卫星上搭载的Pb-Zn合金样品相比较,其弥散体的分布状况无大的差异,只是前者弥散体尺寸略大于空间样品。然而,用该方法在准失重条件下制备的样品,无论在弥散体大小和均匀程度方面都与地面普通条件下(受重力影响)的样品有本质的区别。     

Space Materials Science in China: I. Experiment Studies under Microgravity

The virtual absence of gravity-dependent phenomena in microgravity allows an in-depth understanding of fundamental events that are normally obscured and therefore are difficult to study quantitatively on Earth. Of particular interest is that the low-gravity environment aboard space provides a unique platform to synthesize alloys of semiconductors with homogeneous composition distributions, on both the macroscopic and microscopic scales, due to the much reduced buoyancy-driven convection. On the other hand, the easy realization of detached solidification in microgravity suppresses the formation of defects such as dislocations and twins, and thereby the crystallographic perfection is greatly increased. Moreover, the microgravity condition offers the possibilities to elucidate the liquid/solid interfacial structures, as well as clarify the microstructure evolution path of the metal alloys (or composites) during the solidification process. Motivated by these facts, growths of compound semiconductors and metal alloys were carried out under microgravity by using the drop tube, or on the scientific platforms of Tiangong-2 and SJ-10. The following illustrates the main results.      

Solidification and Crystal Growth on the SJ-10 Recoverable Scientific Experiment Satellite

The low-gravity environment aboard the space provides a unique platform for understanding crystal-growth-related phenomena that are masked by gravity on the Earth and for exploring new crystal growth techniques. We have characterized the wetting behavior of metal alloys and carried out melt growth of compound semiconductors under the support of materials science program in the SJ-10 recoverable satellite. We found that interfacial reaction plays a significant role in the interfacial evolution of Sn-based alloys. Detached growth of InAsSb was realized under microgravity, whereas during the terrestrial experiment the crystal and the crucible wall contact with each other. Moreover, the suppression of buoyancy-driven convection results in a more uniform composition distribution in the InGaSb and Bi₂Te₃-based semiconductor alloys.      

Liquid phase sintering of tungsten composites in space: Results of tests performed in Texus

Tungsten-nickel-iron composites are commersially fabricated from powders by liquid phase sintering. They consist of almost spherical tungsten particles in a matrix of nickel-iron-tungsten. A way to contribute to the understanding of the sintering mechanism and the mechanical properties is to study composites with a low amount of tungsten particles. Depending on the great difference in density between the particles and the matrix, this can only be done under microgravity. A primary sintering test of the tungsten composite was done in space using the Texus 10 modul. Prealloys were fabricated from metal powder mixtures, which were hot isostatic pressed. Liquid phase sintering of the two tungsten composites under microgravity has shown that the particles are evenly distributed and that no segregation occured due to convection. Despite an uneven distribution of the particles in the preformed specimens and the short melting period the patricle distribution has become even. Compared to short time sintering tests made on four alloys in the laboratory, the growth and separation of the particles was fast.     

Study of the Marangoni convection around a surface tension minimum under microgravity conditions

At equilibrium, aqueous fatty alcohol solutions presents a surface tension minimum versus temperature. The influence of such an extremum on the Marangoni convection is studied. Two experiments have been performed under microgravity conditions (Texus 8 (1983) and Texus 9 (1984) flights). The velocity fields are determined by following the paths of tracer particles and furthermore, in the Texus 9 experiment, differential interferograms have been recorded.     

A review of long drop tubes as a supplement/alternative to space experiments

The 100 meter high drop tube at the Marshall Space Flight Center has proven to be a viable facility for studies of containerless solidification. Advantages are that experiments are inexpensive and large numbers of specimens can be processed rapidly. It would not be unusual to run ten specimens in a day. Another significant advantage is that the undercooling behavior can be followed with sufficient sensitivity to easily detect the onset of recalescence and subsequent events.Disadvantages are the restrictions on specimen sizes and types of alloys that can be run in a microgravity environment. Practical specimen sizes range between 50 mg and 500 mg depending on the type of furnace being used. Refractory alloys can be processed in a vacuum (about 10^?5 torr) and therefore at microgravity. Non-refractory alloys demand an atmosphere (about 200 torr) to obtain appreciable undercooling before impact at the bottom of the tube. Under these conditions significant g forces result.Because of the present limitations of the 100 meter drop tube, the most definitive work has been done on niobium based alloys. Large amounts of undercooling have been observed routinely and the effects of undercooling on microstructure have been characterized in detail. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to determine types of phases, amounts of phases, and compositions of phases. It is clear, as would be expected, that the results bear some resemblance to rapid solidification processing by quenching. However, there are dissimilarities due to the uniqueness of solidification by deep undercooling without quenching in long drop tubes and accompanying recalescence effects.     

微重力场中对流—辐射—传质系统的地面模拟技术

研究了微重力条件下对流－辐射－传质稳态系统的地面相似模拟技术，进一步发 温度－材料综合保护技术。通过采取补偿热流，调整壁面热流密度分布的方法，保持了原型与尺寸适当缩小后的模型的Ｎｕ数，Ｓｈ数，材料，温度，湿度不变，从而实现模型与原型流动，换热和传质相似。     

Microgravity experiments on the transition from laminar to oscillatory thermocapillary convection in floating zones

The onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection in floating zones has been measured under microgravity in two sounding rocket experiments TEXUS and on board of the satellite SPAS-01. We report on the critical Marangoni numbers measured under μ-g and in the 1-g reference experiments