Lohöfer G, Beckers M, Blumberg T, Bräuer D, Schneider S, Volkmann T, Meyer A
Institut für Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), 51170 Köln, Germany.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2024 May 1;95(5). doi: 10.1063/5.0182719.
During the ∼22 s lasting free fall phase in an aircraft flying a parabola, the aboard installed electromagnetic levitation facility "TEMPUS" is used to investigate contactless and undisturbed of gravity induced convection thermophysical properties and microstructure formations of hot and highly reactive metal or semiconductor melts. The completely contactless handling and measurement of a liquid by the levitation technique keeps the melt free of contamination and enables the extension of the accessible sample temperature range far into the undercooled liquid state below the melting point. Additionally, the state of reduced weight during parabolic flights allows us to considerably decrease the strongly disturbing electromagnetic levitation forces acting in ground-based facilities on the suspended liquids. The present paper explains in detail the basic principle and the technical realization of the TEMPUS levitation facility and its attached measurement devices. Furthermore, it presents some typical experiments performed in TEMPUS, which also show the advantages resulting from the combination of reduced weight, electromagnetic levitation, and contactless measurement techniques. The control and data recording, as well as the planning, preparation, and operation of the TEMPUS experiments within the parabolic flight campaign, are another aspect outlined in the following.
在一架进行抛物线飞行的飞机上持续约22秒的自由落体阶段，机上安装的电磁悬浮装置“TEMPUS”用于研究热的、高活性金属或半导体熔体在无接触且不受重力诱导对流干扰的情况下的热物理性质和微观结构形成。通过悬浮技术对液体进行完全无接触的处理和测量，可使熔体免受污染，并能将可达到的样品温度范围扩展到远低于熔点的过冷液态。此外，抛物线飞行期间的失重状态使我们能够大幅降低在地面设施中作用于悬浮液体上的强烈干扰电磁悬浮力。本文详细解释了TEMPUS悬浮装置及其附属测量设备的基本原理和技术实现。此外，还介绍了在TEMPUS中进行的一些典型实验，这些实验也展示了失重、电磁悬浮和无接触测量技术相结合所带来的优势。下面将概述抛物线飞行任务中TEMPUS实验的控制与数据记录，以及实验的规划、准备和操作等另一方面的内容。
