Abstract
Bulk metallic glasses are of critical interest for a wide range of applications, including their use in spacecraft gearboxes and mechanisms due to their excellent low-temperature, unlubricated wear resistance. Also of interest, is the potential for in-space manufacturing of metal alloys and the use of microgravity to determine fundamental thermophysical properties to inform ground-based modeling and experimentation. In this work, a Zr-based bulk metallic glass was processed in the electromagnetic levitator ISS-EML to determine undercooling, electrical resistivity, specific heat capacity, surface tension, and viscosity. A 6.5 mm sphere was vitrified during the processing, resulting in the first bulk metallic glass manufactured on board the international space station (ISS).
Highlights
Metallic glasses are characterized by the absence of long range, periodic atomic arrangements, which leads to their special mechanical properties
The international space station (ISS)-EML was used for dual-purpose in the current work; (1) to measure the thermophysical properties of LM105 in a containerless environment to provide data for ground-based modeling and manufacturing, and (2) to demonstrate the possibility for inspace manufacturing of metal alloys with deep undercooling
We demonstrated the use of the ISS-EML to determine thermophysical properties of the bulk metallic glass former LM105 in the liquid state
Summary
Metallic glasses are characterized by the absence of long range, periodic atomic arrangements, which leads to their special mechanical properties. The ISS-EML was used for dual-purpose in the current work; (1) to measure the thermophysical properties of LM105 in a containerless environment to provide data for ground-based modeling and manufacturing, and (2) to demonstrate the possibility for inspace manufacturing of metal alloys with deep undercooling. Space agencies such as NASA and ESA have invested heavily in the development of microgravity manufacturing equipment capable of fabricating metal parts on-orbit through additive manufacturing.
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