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Meteorites as specimens for microgravity research

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Abstract

The microstructural features of nickel-iron and stony-iron (pallasite) meteorites contain structures both similar to and different from natural and engineered terrestrial materials. The similarities can be accounted for by nonequilibrium solidification. The differences are attributable to the role of micro-gravity forces in effect during solidification. The fundamental assumptions and the historical roots of currently accepted meteorite formation theory as they are interwoven with the development of physical metallurgy theories are evaluated. A theoretical background necessary for the reinterpretation of the meteoritic Widmanstätten structure as a product of microgravity solidification is presented. Meteorites may be used as prototypes of materials solidified under microgravity conditions.

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  1. Technical Communications Unlimited, P.O. Box 708, 12301-0708, Schenectady, NY

    P. Z. Budka

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  1. P. Z. Budka
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This paper is based on a presentation made in the symposium “Experimental Methods for Microgravity Materials Science Research” presented at the 1988 TMS-AIME Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, January 25-29, 1988, under the auspices of the ASM/MSD Thermo-dynamic Data Committee and the Material Processing Committee.

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Budka, P.Z. Meteorites as specimens for microgravity research. Metall Trans A 19, 1919–1923 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02645194

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