Thermophysical Properties of Nickel-Based Superalloys

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) electrostatic levitation (ESL) laboratory has a long history of providing materials research and thermophysical property data. The lab can measure thermophysical properties such as density, surface tension, and viscosity of liquid materials, including elements, alloys, glasses, ceramics, and oxides. Nickel-based superalloys (e.g. Inconel, Hastelloy, and Waspaloy) have many high performance applications, including turbine engines for aerospace. Superalloy parts are typically manufactured by casting and forging. These processes generate both polycrystalline and monocrystalline parts. A relatively new method of fabrication of turbine disk materials is additive manufacturing, which is typically done for aerospace parts by powder-bed methods such as selective laser melting (SLM). Accurate modeling of casting and forging, as well as additively manufacturing processes, require thermophysical properties (density, surface tension, and viscosity). The thermophysical properties of liquid nickel-based superalloys, both conventional and additively manufactured, were measured at several temperatures in both undercooled and superheated condition. Surface tension and viscosity was measured using the oscillating drop method and density and thermal expansion was measured using edge detection methods

Thermophysical Properties of Nickel-Based Superalloys

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Tracking Evaporation During Levitation Processing of Nickel-Based Superalloys on the ISS

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Uncertainty analysis and performance evaluation: a measurement of thermophysical properties of liquid Au in microgravity

A new method for quantifying facility performance has been discussed in this study that encompasses uncertainties associated with thermophysical property measurement. Four key thermophysical properties: density, volumetric thermal expansion coefficient, surface tension, and viscosity of liquid Au have been measured in microgravity environment using two different levitation facilities. Levitation experiments were conducted using the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) onboard the ISS in Argon and air, and the TEMPUS Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) facility on a Novespace Zero-G aircraft parabolic flight in Argon. The traditional Maximum Amplitude method was augmented through the use of Frequency Crossover method to identify the natural frequency for oscillations induced on a molten sample during Faraday forcing in ESL. The EML tests were conducted using a pulse excitation method where two techniques, one imaging and one non-imaging, were used to study surface oscillations. The results from both facilities are in excellent agreement with the published literature values. A detailed study of the accuracy and precision of the measured values has also been presented in this work to evaluate facility performance

A quantitative comparison of thermophysical property measurement of CMSX-4® Plus (SLS) in microgravity and terrestrial environments

International audienceDensity, thermal expansion coefficient, surface tension and viscosity of Ni-based CMSX-4® Plus have been measured for a range of liquid temperature by utilizing two Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) facilities. Ground-based tests were conducted using the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center ESL facility in 1.33 kPa Ultra High Vacuum and space-based tests were conducted using ISS-ELF in 172 kPa Argon gas atmosphere. The measured values were compared to the available literature data. This study focuses on a detailed uncertainty analysis of the experimental data to measure the accuracy and precision of the measured properties using Guide to the expression of Uncertainty Measurement (GUM) principles. The findings from this study have been utilized to quantify the performances of these two ESL facilities in measuring thermophysical properties

A quantitative comparison of thermophysical property measurement of CMSX-4® Plus (SLS) in microgravity and terrestrial environments

Density, thermal expansion coefficient, surface tension and viscosity of Ni-based CMSX-4® Plus (SLS) have been measured for a range of liquid temperature by utilizing two Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) facilities. Ground-based tests were conducted using the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center ESL facility in 1.33 kPa Ultra High Vacuum and space-based tests were conducted using ISS-ELF facility in 172 kPa Argon gas atmosphere. The measured values were compared to the available literature data. This study focuses on a detailed uncertainty analysis of the experimental data to measure the accuracy and precision of the measured properties using Guide to the expression of Uncertainty Measurement (GUM) principles. The findings from this study have been utilized to quantify the performances of these two ESL facilities in measuring thermophysical properties