1. Rapid Quench in an Electrostatic Levitator
- Author
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Michael P. SanSoucie, Jan R. Rogers, and Douglas M. Matson
- Subjects
Quenching ,Materials science ,Zirconium alloy ,Metallurgy ,Alloy ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Titanium alloy ,engineering.material ,chemistry ,Electrostatic levitation ,engineering ,Levitation ,Gallium ,Indium - Abstract
The Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) Laboratory at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is a unique facility for investigators studying high-temperature materials. The ESL laboratory’s main chamber has been upgraded with the addition of a rapid quench system. This system allows samples to be dropped into a quench vessel that can be filled with a low melting point material, such as a gallium or indium alloy, as a quench medium. Thereby allowing rapid quenching of undercooled liquid metals. Up to eight quench vessels can be loaded into a wheel inside the chamber that is indexed with control software. The system has been tested successfully with samples of zirconium, iron-cobalt alloys, iron-chromium-nickel, titanium-zirconium-nickel alloys, and a silicon-cobalt alloy. This new rapid quench system will allow materials science studies of undercooled materials and new materials development. The system is described and some initial results are presented. more...
- Published
- 2016
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