Levitation workshop at German Aerospace
15 December 2009
On 15th December IMAPS staff attended a workshop on levitation at the Institute of Materials Physics in Space at DLR in Cologne. CAFMaD was well represented by Professor Neville Greaves, Dave Langstaff, Edwin Flikkema & Matthew Gunn from Aberystwyth and Greg Chass from Bangor. The workshop was also attended by Louis Hennet from CNRS Orleans and researchers based at the DLR site including part time IMAPS and CAFMaD staff member Florian Kargl who is now based there. The theme of the workshop was contactless measurement of levitated supercooled materials and was preceded by tour of the DLR research labs including demonstrations of their electromagnetic and electrostatic levitation systems.
Presentations covered the measurement of surface tension and viscosity and x-ray and neutron scattering measurements of molten and supercooled materials levitated using aerodynamic, electromagnetic and electrostatic techniques. A fascinating presentation was given by Andreas Meyer on electromagnetic levitation experiments carried out in microgravity on board the parabolic flight aircraft “Zero-G” and planned experiments for the International Space Station. Edwin Flikkema, Greg Chass and Jürgen Horbach discussed computer simulations of disordered materials with the intention of collaborating on this work in the future. The day was concluded with a presentation by Professor Neville Greaves on “Polymorphism, Liquid-Liquid Transitions & Critical Points in Supercooled Yttria-Alumina” which stimulated much interest from the DLR researchers.
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