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Experimental Investigation of Rotating Menisci

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Abstract

In upper stages of spacecrafts, Propellant Management Devices (PMD’s) can be used to position liquid propellant over the outlet in the absence of gravity. Centrifugal forces due to spin of the upper stage can drive the liquid away from the desired location resulting in malfunction of the stage. In this study, a simplified model consisting of two parallel, segmented and unsegmented disks and a central tube assembled at the center of the upper disk is analyzed experimentally during rotation in microgravity. For each drop tower experiment, the angular speed caused by a centrifugal stage in the drop capsule is kept constant. Steady-states for the menisci between the disks are observed for moderate rotation. For larger angular speeds, a stable shape of the free surfaces fail to sustain and the liquid is driven away. Additionally, tests were performed without rotation to quantify two effects: the removal of a metallic cylinder around the model to establish the liquid column and the determination of the the settling time from terrestrial to microgravity conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the space agency of the German Aerospace Center with resources of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag under grant number 50 RL 1320. Further gratitude is addressed to the technical staffs Holger Faust and Ronald Mairose for building the experimental setup and helping performing the experiments. Additionally, the members of ZARM FAB, especially Jan Siemer and Fred Oetken, are gratefully acknowledged who also helped performing the experiments. Special thanks to Dr. Yongkang Chen for the helpful discussions and for the development of SE-FIT. This work was part of the PhD thesis by Yvonne Chen (formerly Reichel) with the title “Meniscus Stability in Rotating Systems” which will be published soon. The thesis was submitted to the Promotionsausschuss of the University in Bremen, Germany, in June 2014.

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  1. Am Fallturm, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Yvonne Reichel & Michael E. Dreyer

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  1. Yvonne Reichel
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  2. Michael E. Dreyer
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Correspondence to Yvonne Reichel.

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Reichel, Y., Dreyer, M.E. Experimental Investigation of Rotating Menisci. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 25, 359–373 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-014-9369-x

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