Selected several years ago by ESA, platinum-based metallic glass (PTCuNiP) produced by PX Group SA is now being used for a series of scientific experiments on the International Space Station (ISS).
For several weeks now, the metallic glass produced by PX Group SA has been tested in real-life conditions on the ISS as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ThermoProb/ThermoLab project. The project is part of a multidisciplinary research program on the properties of metals in the liquid state.
As part of materials science research, metallic glass was melted by electromagnetic levitation in micro-gravity on the ISS. The aim is to film the drop of liquid from above and from the front, and to record the temperature and all the parameters of the experiment during the melting cycles, as illustrated in the image below, which captures the drop of molten metallic glass, seen from above on the left and from the front on the right. Temperature is represented by the black curve on the graph.
The test results will enable the scientists involved in the project to obtain reliable measurements of surface tension, density and viscosity as a function of temperature, as well as to assess other properties of the alloy in the liquid state. Gathering and analyzing this information will enable us to numerically simulate the behavior of the liquid alloy.
For more information, visit silke.prades-rodel@pxgroup.com
