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

Abstract

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.