Utilization of the Swedish Experiment Module within the Texus 9/10 Flight Opportunity

摘要

A module containing a high temperature mirror furnace (HTMF), a crystal growth facility (CGF), and a gradient furnaces assembly (GFA) was flown in the TEXUS 10 sounding rocket. Particle composites in alloys with high melting points; zone melting of germanium crystals; retention of a fine precipitate dispersion by gravity solidification; and directional solidification of Sn-Al alloys were studied. With the HTMF, both samples melted, revealing uniform distribution of tungsten particles in an Fe-Ni matrix. However, the isothermal treatment above the melting point had a shorter duration than expected due to the thermal overload of the payload. For the CGF, both samples melted. The floating zone experiments give substantial results on the mechanisms predominant in a liquid during zero-g conditions. For the GFA, one of three samples was processed under microgravity. Splitting the module into a HTMF-module with larger power and thermal capacity, and a calm module with CGF and GFA is recommended.