Research study on materials processing in space experiment number M512

Abstract

Conclusions of the team of specialists can be generalized as: (1) Brazing and welding of metal structures in an orbital near zero gravity condition are quite feasible. (2) Design of joints for fabrication in zero gravity will place less emphasis on the tolerances and proximity of the adjacent structures than on the quantity of liquid metal available. (3) Brazing of metallic joints has many advantages over electron beam welding for practical reasons: simplicity, launch weight, development costs, joint design tolerances, remotization, etc. (4) No evidence of different physical or mechanical properties of liquid metals in zero gravity was observed. However, many differences in liquid behavior were observed. Many of these effects have been called adhesion-cohesion phenomena