Fast Variation of Gravitational Acceleration in Fluids Using Magnetic Levitation

We present an experimental setup (OLGA: Oxygen Low Gravity Apparatus) designed to compensate, partially or totally, gravity forces in a sample of O 2 by means of magnetic forces. The compensation remains within 1 % in a 5 cm 3 volume and within 5 % in a 40 cm 3 volume. The experiments can be carried...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microgravity science and technology 2015-06, Vol.27 (3), p.221-229
Main Authors: Gandikota, G., Beysens, D., Chatain, D., Pichavant, G., Mailfert, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
Classical and Continuum Physics
Compensation
Computer simulation
Engineering
Gravitation
Magnetic fields
Original Article
Physics
Rockets
Space Exploration and Astronautics
Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics
Tanks
Titanium
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Summary:We present an experimental setup (OLGA: Oxygen Low Gravity Apparatus) designed to compensate, partially or totally, gravity forces in a sample of O 2 by means of magnetic forces. The compensation remains within 1 % in a 5 cm 3 volume and within 5 % in a 40 cm 3 volume. The experiments can be carried out at intermediate controlled gravity levels, between Earth (1g 0 ) and zero (0g 0 ) gravity by adjusting the magnetic field intensity. The setup can also be used to perform fast variations of gravity, with a time constant of 340ms, from -0.5g 0 maximum (overcompensation) to 0g 0 , or from 0g 0 to 0.4g 0 maximum. The sharp acceleration or deceleration of spacecrafts can thus be reproduced to investigate in detail for instance, the transient behavior of life support systems or, when properly rescaled, fuel in rocket tanks. Numerical simulations and experiments also show that high conductive materials (copper) near the cell can modify the magnetic forces during the transient and then the accelerations. In contrast, low conductive materials (titanium) have negligible effect.
ISSN:0938-0108
1875-0494
DOI:10.1007/s12217-015-9437-x