Microgravity Material Research in China:2016

Firstly, recent research works of high undercooling and rapid solidification of metallic alloys under ground simulation conditions in Northwestern Polytechnical University are reviewed. Secondly, under normal gravity and microgravity of binary to quinary Nickel-base single crystal alloys with different contents of W, Ta, Al and Ti elements are comparatively investigated by Institute of Metal Research using drop tube. Thirdly, solidification and crystal growth of SJ10-Recoverable Scientific Experiment Satellite by Institute of Semiconductors is introduced.      

INTERFACIAL MASS TRANSPORT IN OXIDE CRYSTAL GROWTH

A space high temperature in situobservation instrument (SHITISOI) is dedicated to visualize and record the whole growth process of oxide crystal in high temperature melts and solutions. Model experiments using transparent liquids such as KNbO3,Li2B4O7+KNbO3 were chosen to investigate effects of interracial mass transport in oxide crystal growth. For the scaling of the coupled velocity, heat and concentration fields in KNbO3 crystal growth, a rotating crystal growth process was performed and the widths of interfacial concentration, heat and momentum transition zones (The "boundary layers") are obtained, which are 7.5×10-a, 8.6×10-2 and 4.4×10-1 cm,respectively. Hence one can expect that interfacial concentration gradient will be confined to a narrow layer and in region of major concentration change at the in terface. In order to study a mechanism based on the interfacial mass transport resulting from hydrodynamics, the growth of KNbO3 grain in high temperature Li2B4O7 and KNbO3 solutin was studied. The result shows that the pivotal feature in the KNbO3 crystal growth is the initiated by KNbO3 solute surface tension gra dient which is caused by the slow diffusion of KNbO3 solutes. Direct comparison of the model predictions and experimental observed phenomena demonstrate the predictive capability of this model.     

Progress in Research on Materials Under Microgravity in China

Research on materials under microgravity in China began in the 1980s, sparked by Prof. Lanying Lin (academician of CAS), Prof. Xiji Wang (academician of CAS), Prof. Guirong Min (academician of CAS), and Prof. Huabao Lin (academician of CAS), and others. The first semiconductor crystal, first optical crystal, and first alloys were grown in space on board a recoverable satellite in 1987. Since then, microgravity materials science became a new scientific branch in China.Scientific and technical activities on space crystal growth and solidification are carried out through two major programs: ground-based studies and orbital experiments. The main results obtained during 2001-2003 are reported below.     

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.      

微重力与电磁场对凝固过程的影响

欧洲空间局两项材料领域课题MICAST和CETSOL均涉及微重力科学相关研究.通过等轴晶柱状晶转变（CET）分析了微重力环境对材料凝固过程的影响;介绍了一项在地面施加行波电磁场的标准（Benchmark）凝固实验,其温度场演化及微观凝固组织和浓度偏析均展示了磁控受迫对流对金属材料凝固过程的显著作用.      

热冲击作用下钨钒合金的表面开裂及熔化行为

本文研究了机械合金化+热压（HP）烧结制备的钨钒（W-V）合金在热冲击作用下的表面损伤行为。以合金中钒的质量分数作为变量,探究钒质量分数的变化（1%~10%）对钨钒合金抗热冲击性能的影响。利用光学显微镜、扫描电镜、能谱仪、纳米压痕仪等多种测试方式,分析表征了HP烧结钨钒合金的组织结构特征及其经过热冲击测试后的表面开裂及熔化行为特征。结果表明:在1 800℃、20 MPa的压力条件下保温2 h可以制备出致密度高、合金化程度高的钨钒合金,且随着钒质量分数的增加,合金样品的致密度有所提高;合金样品中钨基体硬度大于富钒相,在高能电子束模拟的国际热核聚变实验堆（ITER）边界局域模（ELMs）热冲击作用下,钨基体对裂纹扩展的阻碍作用明显强于富钒相;随着钒质量分数的升高,合金的开裂阈值和熔化阈值均降低,本文对相关机理进行了讨论。      

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.      

碳纤维增强镁基复合材料的界面反应和拉伸性能研究

采用气压浸渗法, 制备了碳纤维增强镁基复合材料. 实验中分别选用了c.p.Mg, AZ31 和AZ91 三种基体材料进行研究. 分别采用了扫描电子显微镜(SEM) 和透射电子显微镜(TEM) 分析了复合材料的拉伸断口和界面微区. 结果发现, 随着基体中Al 含量的增加, 界面处的化学反应逐渐加剧, 界面处不同程度的化学反应导致了不同的界面结合状态和界面结构.采用纯镁基体时, 界面呈现弱结合; 采用AZ31 和AZ91 为基体材料时,界面处出现针状反应产物, 且界面结合都较强.      

金属材料快速凝固激光加工与成形

报道近年来在先进金属材料快速凝固激光表面改性、金属间化合物高温耐磨耐蚀涂层新材料快速凝固激光熔覆制备技术、钛合金及高温合金等高性能金属零件快速凝固激光成形技术等领域的研究进展, 主要内容包括:钛合金激光表面合金化及激光熔覆表面改性、激光熔覆高温耐磨耐蚀多功能金属间化合物涂层、小面相非平衡凝固液固界面结构及生长机制、钛合金及高温合金高性能零部件激光快速成形、难熔高活性金属材料及定向生长柱状晶钛合金激光约束熔铸成形技术.      

Strong magnetic field effect on the dissolution process of tetragonal lysozyme crystals.

Either a homogeneous or inhomogeneous magnetic field has been known to dampen the protein crystal growth. To date the mechanism is not clear. However, it was generally proposed that the magnetic field may dampen the convection in the solution, resulting in a reduced crystal growth rate and possibly a good crystal quality, similar to the case of protein crystal growth in space. To understand the mechanism of the magnetic field effect on protein crystal growth, further explorations on the magnetic field effect on protein solution, on the processes of crystal growth and dissolution, and on different crystallization (solution) systems, should be valuable. In this paper we present our recent efforts to study magnetic field effects on the dissolution processes of tetragonal lysozyme crystals under a strong magnetic field. A layer of oriented tetragonal lysozyme crystals was prepared under a temperature gradient and magnetic field, after that the crystals were dissolved by increasing the temperature of the solution. The lysozyme molecules will diffuse upwards due to the steep concentration gradient at the lower side of the cell caused by the dissolution. The evolution of the concentration in the solution was measured in-situ using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The results confirmed that the dissolution process of the crystals was slowed by the magnetic field. Judging from the concentration evolution versus time at different positions in the solution, we concluded that the apparent diffusion coefficient of lysozyme molecules was decreased by the magnetic field. The results were discussed using a suspended crystal model in the initial dissolution stage.     

Protein crystal growth--microgravity aspects.

Protein crystals, grown under reduced gravity conditions, are either superior or inferior in their structural perfection than their Earth-grown counterparts. A reduction of the crystals' quality due to low-gravity effects on the growth processes cannot be understood from existing models. In this paper we put forth a rationale which predicts either advantages or disadvantages of microgravity growth. This rationale is based on the changes in the effective solute and impurity supply rates in microgravity and their effects on the intrinsic growth rate fluctuations that arise from the coupling of bulk transport to nonlinear interfacial kinetics and cause severe inhomogeneities. Depending on the specific diffusivity and kinetic coefficient of a protein and the impurities in the solution, either transport enhancement through forced flow or transport suppression under reduced gravity can result in a reduction of the kinetic fluctuations and, thus, growth with higher structural perfection. Investigating this mechanism of microgravity effects, we first demonstrate a one-to-one correspondence between these fluctuations, that are due to the bunching of growth steps, and the formation of defects in the crystals. We have confirmed the forced flow aspects of this rationale in ground-based experiments with lysozyme utilizing flowing solutions with varying, well characterized impurity contents.     

温场可编程控制的小型空间晶体炉设计与测试

详细介绍了一台温场可编程控制的小型空间晶体炉。其工作原理是,在计算机控制下,炉膛温场发生有序地变化,完成晶体生长过程。由于没有机械运动部件,从而彻底消除了机械振动对微重力环境的干扰。此炉是为返回式卫星搭载试验而设计,配备以Ｉｎｔｅｌ８０ｃ３１为核心的计算机温度控制及数据采集系统。该系统采用数字ＰＩＤ方式独立调节加热器中７个结构相同的加热单元的温度,可以编程实现多种温场变化模式。     

Gravitational influence on binary alloy melt equilibria

Micro- and macrosegregation, the nonuniform redistribution of solute during solidification, are common to both casting and welding, processes of fundamental importance in materials engineering. In multicomponent crystal growth where solid/liquid density differences are appreciable gravity-induced separation can lead to significant spatial variations in resulting ingot composition. In fact, this phenomenon is also operative in liquid/liquid systems such as monotectic alloys exhibiting a liquid miscibility gap, where buoyancy-driven flows can result in a sometimes unwanted separation of phases upon cooling through the miscibility dome.     

空间环境对InSb晶体生长的影响

为了研究太空微重力环境对InSb 晶体生长的影响,在空间进行了InSb 晶体的重熔和再结晶实验。实验结果表明,空间可以生长出结构较完整、组份均匀的高质量单晶。另外还证明了利用多用途单晶生长炉内一侧余热进行单晶生长的可行性。     

在空间微重力下生长碲镉汞晶体

本文叙述了我国首次在空间微重力下进行的碲镉汞(MCT)晶体生长试验及一些观测结果。生长是从熔体进行的。在空间90min的加热时间内,将MCT多晶试样熔化,然后随炉冷却,最后在地面上再结晶。于是,生长出约3cm长的晶体,其表面光滑.结构致密,无孔洞,由1～3个大晶粒组成,其中单晶占74%。X射线能量色散分析(EDS)表明,其径向组分均匀性优于±0.02,其中约1cm长的一段晶体的径向组分均匀性优于±0.01。电学特性与地面上生长的样品基本相同。     

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。     

空间低温溶液晶体生长的地基实验

首次使用疏水型聚四氟乙烯微孔滤膜,利用其透气不透水的特性,密封晶体生长容器,采用恒温蒸发法进行晶体生长.溶剂通过蒸发离开生长容器后,被生长容器外的吸附剂吸附,使得溶液维持一定过饱和度,以实现单晶的连续生长.在此基础上研制出一套空间低温溶液晶体生长地基模拟装置.利用此装置进行了一系列地基模拟实验,获得一批高质量α-LiIO₃单晶,证实了该生长装置的溶剂蒸发量和容器密封性能够满足空间低温溶液晶体生长需要,为未来空间低温溶液晶体生长实验奠定了基础.      

微重力条件下红外材料的空间生长

根据近年红外材料在空间生长的研究概况,分析了涵盖熔体、气相、液相外延和分子束外延等生长方法及各个方法生长红外材料的基本原理,在地面生长遇到的问题,以及在空间微重力环境中进行红外材料生长的优势.同时基于中国利用熔体法在天宫二号上已经进行的ZnTe:Cu晶体的空间生长科学实验及地基实验结果,通过对空间和地面实验结果进行对比,提出了在超高真空环境下,利用分子束外延方式生长高性能、大尺寸红外材料的可能性,以及未来在空间微重力条件下进行红外材料生长的研究方向及具体应用.      

空间微重力条件下碲镉汞晶体的布里支曼生长

在中国返回式卫星上进行了一台双温区空间晶体生长炉的搭载试验，成功地实现了空间微重力条件下碲镉汞晶体的布里支曼生长，取得了一些有意义的结果。文章介绍了这种晶体炉的设计和空间试验的过程；分析了回收样品的主要测试结果；并对空间材料加工装置的设计和一些相关工艺问题进行了讨论     

THE DGW-I FURNACE A MATERIALS PROCESSING FACILITY IN "SZ-2" SPACECRAFT

The DGW-I is a new material processing facility developed in China, which was firstly carried into orbit in November 1999 by the SZ-1 spacecraft and then in January 2001 carried by SZ-2 into space again, and successfully processed 6 samples of materials, including 3 samples of alloys, 2 of semiconductors and 1 sample of oxide crystal.