Numerical Investigation of G-jitters Effect in Thermovibrational Experiments on board International Space Station Using Different Equation of States

Abstract

Microgravity environments provide perspective platforms for studying the phenomenon of thermal diffusion. Nevertheless, the residual micro accelerations (g-jitters) in the space laboratories induce convection and may affect the accuracy of experiments. Consequently, an appropriate interpretation of experimental results from the space relies on a thorough understanding of the influence of g-jitters on the thermal diffusion process. In this paper, we have modeled the thermal diffusion process under different microgravity environments using measured g-jitter data onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Various microgravity accelerations based on the location of the experimental setups and the time where the experiments performed on the ISS have been considered and applied in the numerical calculations. Comparisons have been made with the ideal zero gravity scenarios. Recommendations are made according to the findings from this study for the improvement of the accuracy of diffusion experiments in Space.