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Status of the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) in the ISS-KIBO

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Abstract

The electrostatic levitation method is a containerless processing technique that utilizes Coulomb force between a charged sample and the surrounding electrodes. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been developing this technique for more than 20 years. In 2016, JAXA completed the flight model assembly, and the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) for the International Space Station (ISS) was launched to the ISS. The ELF is mainly intended to handle oxide melts that are difficult to levitate on the ground based electrostatic levitator due to gravity and due to insufficient charging. ISS-ELF can measure the thermophysical properties (density, surface tension and viscosity) of high temperature melts above 2000 ∘C. The thermophysical properties data of materials at high temperature is useful for the study of liquid states and improvement of numerical simulation by modeling the manufacturing processes using the liquid state. Moreover, the interfacial energy of immiscible melts will be measured by creating a core-shell droplet configuration which otherwise cannot be obtained on the ground due to sedimentation. This paper briefly describes the ELF facility and presents the results of a functional checkout that includes the density measurement of molten alumina.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. W.-K. Rhim and Dr. P.-F. Paradis for their extensive assistance throughout the development of the ISS-ELF. The authors also appreciate the ISS crew members and ground operation staff for their support during the onboard assembly and check out.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate, JAXA, Tsukuba, Japan

    Haruka Tamaru, Chihiro Koyama, Hideki Saruwatari & Yasuhiro Nakamura

  2. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, Tsukuba, Japan

    Takehiko Ishikawa

  3. SOKEN-DAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Sagamihara, Japan

    Takehiko Ishikawa

  4. Space Systems Department, IHI Aerospace Co., Ltd., Tomioka, Japan

    Tetsuya Takada

Authors
  1. Haruka Tamaru
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  2. Chihiro Koyama
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  3. Hideki Saruwatari
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  4. Yasuhiro Nakamura
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  5. Takehiko Ishikawa
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  6. Tetsuya Takada
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Correspondence to Haruka Tamaru.

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This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Interdisciplinary Science Challenges for Gravity Dependent Phenomena in Physical and Biological Systems

Guest Editors: Jens Hauslage, Ruth Hemmersbach, Valentina Shevtsova

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Tamaru, H., Koyama, C., Saruwatari, H. et al. Status of the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) in the ISS-KIBO. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 30, 643–651 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9631-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9631-8

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