Fluids, Materials and Microgravity: Numerical Techniques and Insights into Physics

Each year, universities and research centres – most particularly the major space agencies such as NASA, ESA, and NASDA – devote a vast amount of time and money into the research of materials behaviour and production in microgravity. Recently, the possibility of creating special alloys, inorganic and organic crystals, as well as biological (living) tissues in this condition has been investigated.

Fluids, Materials and Microgravity provides a solid basis of established knowledge – through literature, fundamental studies, experimental methods, numerical (basic and sophisticated) techniques – as well as the latest in research advancements. Important for the prediction of material behaviour when exposed to the environment of space, this book explores the new knowledge provided by microgravity-based studies in producing unique inorganic, and organic materials on Earth (and in designing related new technological processes). A vital resource for any scientists interested in the understanding and modelling of the new important physical mechanisms disclosed by microgravity research, and in their possible effect on the production and behaviour of materials both in space and on Earth.

A vital resource for any scientists interested in the effect of microgravity on the production and behaviour of materials.

• Covers typical fluid-dynamic disturbances which can affect the behaviour and final quality of materials both in space and on Earth, and possible strategies to contain their effects
• Thorough attention is devoted to the most promising and innovative technological processes provided by microgravity experimentation
• Information is provided through application-based engineering models, as well as mathematical frameworks, to facilitate a deeper understanding of physical mechanisms

This monograph covers many different aspects of materials science and in particular: inorganic (semiconductors and metal alloys) and organic (protein crystals) materials as well as the case of living biological tissues. In particular, attention is mainly devoted to the most useful and/or promising aspects of the new illuminating knowledge provided by microgravity experimentation. When microgravity conditions are attained, materials and fluids do "incredible" things. This environment (provided by space platforms or properly simulated on the ground by microscale experimentation) is instrumental in unravelling processes that are otherwise interwoven or overshadowed in "normal" gravity. It becomes possible to test fundamental theories of three-dimensional laminar, oscillatory and turbulent flow generated by various other forces; all of which are of substantial theoretical as well as practical interest on Earth. Critical knowledge gained from these experiments is accelerating the current trend towards predictable and reproducible phenomena, and enabling the development of new manufacturing methods. Within this context, this book develops and refines working engineering models, that can be easily used within practical applications, while providing a rigorous mathematical and numerical framework for deeper understanding and effective treatment of a number of macrophysical and microphysical phenomena still poorly known or ignored by most of specialists in the field of materials science. Furthermore, some unexpected theoretical kinships existing among the different subjects explored within the text (inorganic, organic, biological, etc.) are elucidated and emphasized (for instance, those dealing with the presence of moving and/or interacting interfaces). Along these lines, many problems are treated within the common framework of Volume of Fluid and Level-Set numerical methods and other similar multiphase Eulerian or Lagrangian techniques. Large amount of information is transmitted from one field to another in terms of models and numerical strategies. Such a philosophy succeeds in building a common source for the scientific community, with the intention to establish an ongoing, mutually beneficial dialogue among a variety of fields.