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Experiment setup of StELIUM. The labels are grouped under the Sloshing Detection Subsystem (red), the Magnetic Subsystem (green), the structure (yellow), and the Actuation Subsystem (blue)
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Liquid sloshing represents a major challenge for the design and operation of space vehicles. In low-gravity environments, a highly non-linear movement can be produced due to the lack of stabilizing forces. This gives rise to significant disturbances that impact on the propulsion and attitude control systems of the spacecraft. The employment of magn...
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Citations
... Other strategies remain largely unexplored. The idea of using magnetic fields for active control, proposed decades ago, was recently taken up and shown to be effective for ferrofluid-based propellants [28]. Even more recently, Refs. ...
... Other strategies remain largely unexplored. For example, the idea of using magnetic fields for active control of sloshing, first proposed in the early 1960s, was recently revisited by Romero-Calvo et al. [28,43] to show that ferrofluid-based propellants can be an effective alternative for active control, since magnetic forces both increase the natural frequencies and enhance the stability properties of the system. This approach has already been envisaged as a strategy to restart liquid propellant engines during secondary stages of rockets [44] and has found applications, not only in propellant management, but in phase separation and electrolysis [45] in microgravity, where passive magnets are used to force the motion of bubbles generated during the process and increase its overall efficiency. ...
Present and future challenges of space exploration require better and improved strategies for fluid control and management. The
“Thermocapillary-based control of a free surface in microgravity” (ThermoSlosh) experiment aims to contribute directly to current
knowledge and basic understanding of fluid phenomena in reduced gravity, in particular, to study the effectiveness of thermal
forcing for fluid control in weightlessness and applications. The experiment proposes to analyze the dynamics of a free surface in a
cylindrical cell, half filled with 5 cSt silicone oil, subjected to controlled temperatures and accelerations. Simulations suggest that
the thermocapillary effect can be used in microgravity to control the orientation of the free surface within the cell. The response of
the free surface to the applied thermal gradient is characterized using the rise time, the stabilization time, and the overshoot; these
representative quantities further help evaluating the effectiveness of the strategy. The use of supplemental vibrations is shown to
improve the overall performance of the thermal control. Finally, among various potential applications, the ability to control sloshing
motion during the real microgravity scenario of an ISS reboosting maneuver is assessed. ThermoSlosh was recently presented to
the International Space Science and Scientific Payload competition, and is part of the selected proposals for the competition final.
... The problem of liquid sloshing under microgravity and aerospace applications were also deeply analyzed (Ibrahim 2001). The sloshing of magnetic liquids in microgravity and the application in space propulsion were discussed by Romero-Calvo et al. (2020. Thermocapillary-driven dynamics of a free surface in microgravity was studied by Gligor et al. (2022a, b) and measures of control of sloshing were presented. ...
Propellant tanks of satellites usually contain cylindrical structures. Under microgravity, liquid can spread on the revolution’s surface regardless of its size. This study focuses on liquid–gas interfaces on the surface of revolution under microgravity. Expressions of profiles of the liquid at equilibrium are proposed in this paper. The profiles have two cases according to the liquid contact angle and the geometry of the revolution. For given liquid contact angle and geometry of the revolution, the profile and volume of the liquid can be obtained by using the Shooting method with certain inputs. Numerical simulation is carried out with the Volume of Fluid method and the numerical results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Besides, dimensionless theoretical solutions of the profiles are proposed and the effects of the liquid contact angle and the geometry of the revolution on the profile of the liquid are analyzed in detail.
... An exception is the European Space Agency (ESA) Drop Your Thesis! 2017 The Ferros project, that studied the axisymmetric sloshing of water-based ferrofluids when subjected to an inhomogeneous magnetic field in microgravity [39][40][41]. Although the axisymmetric and lateral sloshing of ferrofluids were also studied during the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) DropTES 2019 experiment StELIUM [42][43][44], statistical significance was not achieved for the axisymmetric modes [45]. Therefore, the configuration of the Drop Your Thesis! 2017 experiment is adopted in this work. ...
A coupled ferrohydrodynamic interface-tracking model is introduced for the analysis of the equilibrium, linear stability, and modal response of magnetic liquid interfaces in surface tension-dominated axisymmetric multiphase flows. The incompressible viscous mass and momentum balances are solved together with the steady-state Maxwell equations by following a monolithic solution scheme. The method is fully implicit, allowing to reach a steady-state solution in a single time step. In addition, the time-dependent evolution of the interface subject to variable external inputs can also be simulated. The geometry is particularized for the study of the free surface oscillations of a ferrofluid in a cylindrical tank under the influence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field in microgravity. Five regions are used to discretize the simulation domain, which combines analytical and elliptic mappings. Magnetic field-free results are validated by the literature. The modal response of the fluid-magnetic system agrees with measurements from the European Space Agency (ESA) Drop Your Thesis! 2017 The Ferros experiment and improves previous quasi-analytical estimations. This new framework of analysis can be applied to the study of a wide variety of microfluidic and low-gravity fluid systems.
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... Subsequent publications by Marchetta and coworkers presented refined numerical models and results of technical relevance for the development of liquid oxygen magnetic positioning devices [46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]. Recent works have also explored the free surface oscillations of ferrofluids in microgravity, which may be relevant for slosh control and the development of novel PMDs [55][56][57][58][59][60]. A comprehensive review of the field can be found in Ref. 28. Significant advances have been made in the modeling and fundamental understanding of MP 2 devices during the last two decades. ...
... employed to position the liquid. Furthermore, electrical problems have not been observed in previous magnetic liquid sloshing experiments[57]. ...
The active deorbiting and passivation of launch vehicles has become key for the implementation of modern space debris mitigation guidelines. Appropriate engine restart conditions must be provided as part of this process. Ullage motors have been traditionally employed to induce active settling and ensure a gas-free propellant supply to the engines. Although robust and reliable, ullage rockets are also heavy, which motivates the study of alternative approaches to the problem. Classic propellant management devices could potentially be employed in this context, but they are hardly applicable to high flow rate cryogenic liquid systems. This paper explores several novel propellant settling strategies that are particularly well suited for cryogenic propellants. In particular, three distinct Magnetic Positive Positioning concepts, a hydrogen-peroxide-based Propellant Gasification System, and a hybrid device that combines both approaches are introduced. The preliminary technical analysis indicates that the successful development of these technologies could lead to mass savings of hundreds of kilograms and economic gains of several hundred thousand dollars per launch.
... This phenomenon is known as magnetic buoyancy and has been applied to terrestrial boiling experiments with ferrofluids 37,38 . Previous works on low-gravity magnetohydrodynamics have explored the diamagnetic manipulation of air bubbles in water 39,40 , the positioning of diamagnetic materials 41 , air-water separation 42 , protein crystal growth 43 , magnetic-positive positioning 44,45 , magnetic liquid sloshing 46,47 , and combustion enhancement 40 , among others. The application of Lorentz's force on liquid electrolytes has also been studied as a way to enhance hydrogen production [48][49][50] . ...
The absence of strong buoyancy forces severely complicates the management of multiphase flows in microgravity. Different types of space systems, ranging from in-space propulsion to life support, are negatively impacted by this effect. Multiple approaches have been developed to achieve phase separation in microgravity, whereas they usually lack the robustness, efficiency, or stability that is desirable in most applications. Complementary to existing methods, the use of magnetic polarization has been recently proposed to passively induce phase separation in electrolytic cells and other two-phase flow devices. This article illustrates the dia- and paramagnetic phase separation mechanism on MilliQ water, an aqueous MnSO4 solution, lysogeny broth, and olive oil using air bubbles in a series of drop tower experiments. Expressions for the magnetic terminal bubble velocity are derived and validated and several wall–bubble and multi-bubble magnetic interactions are reported. Ultimately, the analysis demonstrates the feasibility of the dia- and paramagnetic phase separation approach, providing a key advancement for the development of future space systems.
... Other strategies remain largely unexplored. For example, the idea of using magnetic fields for active sloshing control, first proposed in the early 1960s, was recently taken up by Romero-Calvo et al., 68 Romero-Calvo et al. 69 to show that ferrofluid-based propellants can be an effective alternative for active control since magnetic forces both enhance the stability properties and increase the natural frequencies of the system. Here, we extend the work of Gligor et al. 46 and consider a new strategy that relies on oscillatory thermal forcing to help control and suppress the type of unwanted sloshing motion that can easily be excited by external accelerations and g-jitter in microgravity environments. ...
Numerical simulations are used to analyze the dynamics of a free surface excited by thermal modulations at the lateral boundaries that generate a time-dependent thermocapillary flow. Fluid parameters are selected to be representative of 5 cSt silicone oil. Following the work of Gligor et al. [“Thermocapillary-driven dynamics of a free surface in microgravity: Response to steady and oscillatory thermal excitation,” Phys. Fluids 34, 042116 (2022)], the response of the free surface to oscillatory thermal excitation is characterized by the displacement of the contact points, and a frequency sweep is used to obtain a Bode-type diagram that reveals a resonance peak in the vicinity of the first sloshing mode. The ability of the thermocapillary flow to excite this sloshing mode suggests a control strategy that uses thermal modulations to dampen sloshing motion. After the response of the isothermal surface to a generic pulse-like inertial perturbation is measured, a classical proportional integral derivative control is implemented and the effect of its gains is considered separately. The efficacy of the controller is characterized by the decay time of the contact point oscillations and by a cost function. The effect of possible delays in the control loop is accounted for. Finally, a controller with a derivative gain is selected and used to dampen the motion induced by a reboosting maneuver of the International Space Station.
... DropTES 2019 StELIUM experiment, whose design is described in Refs. [39][40][41], was subsequently launched at the ...
... The experimental setup of StELIUM, depicted in Fig. 2, is designed to operate in a 9.3 s catapult launch at ZARM's drop tower [57]. The system, that is thoroughly described in Ref. 39, is subdivided into two identical assemblies that The evolution of the free surface is captured by a custom device located on top of each container. A laser line is pointed at the surface of the ferrofluid while a camera records its projection. ...
... [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] Recent works have also explored the free surface oscillations of ferrofluids in microgravity, which may be relevant for slosh control and the development of novel propellant management devices (PMDs). [44][45][46][47][48][49] A comprehensive review of the field can be found in Ref. 19. ...
The active deorbiting and passivation of launch vehicles has become key for the implementation of modern space debris mitigation guidelines. Appropriate engine restart conditions must be provided as part of this process. Ullage motors have been traditionally employed to induce active settling and ensure a gas-free propellant supply to the engines. Although robust and reliable, ullage rockets are also heavy, which motivates the study of alternative approaches to the problem. This paper explores for the first time several high-risk-high-return propellant settling strategies that may result in significant benefits for future space systems. In particular, three distinct Magnetic Positive Positioning concepts, a hydrogen-peroxide-based Propellant Gasification System, and a hybrid device that combines both approaches are introduced. The preliminary feasibility analysis indicates that the successful development of these technologies may lead to mass savings of hundreds of kilograms and economic gains of several hundred thousand dollars per launch. However, the robustness of some of these methods may be compromised by complex fluid-structure interactions that require a careful numerical and/or experimental analysis.
... This is in line with other papers which discuss the design, development and characterization of experiments and test facilities in the space sciences as a valuable component of prior literature, as informed by Refs. [37][38][39][40][41][42]. ...
The Electrostatic Charging Laboratory for Interactions between Plasma and Spacecraft (ECLIPS) research vacuum chamber has recently been developed as part of the Autonomous Vehicle Systems Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder. The experimental spacecraft charging research facility allows conducting experiments relevant to charged astrodynamics in a space-like environment. This paper discusses the development, characterization, and present capabilities of the vacuum chamber, which includes a range of sources to provide electron, ion, and photon fluxes, probes to characterize electron fluxes, x-rays, and potentials, and a variety of ancillary components to ensure the safe operation of the system, such as 3-axis motion stages, a magnetic environment control system, or a residual gas analyzer, among others. This state-of-the art facility has been used to conduct experiments on touchless spacecraft potential sensing, electrostatic actuation, or electron gun development, and will continue to be employed for the study of charged astrodynamics in the future.
... In the framework of the UNOOSA DropTES programme, the StELIUM (Sloshing of magnEtic LIqUids in Microgravity) microgravity experiment was launched at ZARM's drop tower in November 2019. The experiment studied the axisymmetric and lateral oscillations of a ferrofluid solution subjected to an inhomogeneous magnetic field in microgravity [34]. Most of the aforementioned liquid level measurement methods require expensive hardware components, complex post-processing, large and delicate setups, transparent liquids, or direct contact with the fluid. ...
... The total mass of the experiment, including the platforms, is approximately 60 Kg. The system has an overall volume of 930 × 530 × 295 mm 3 [34]. ...
... In this way, the pre-programmed automation routines can be launched when requested. The electrical connections among the different elements are described in Ref. [34]. ...
This paper describes an inexpensive, non-invasive, and highly adaptable surface reconstruction device for opaque liquids. The instrument was developed to study the lateral sloshing of ferrofluids in microgravity as part of the UNOOSA DropTES 2019 StELIUM project. Its design is driven by the geometrical and mechanical constraints imposed by ZARM’s drop tower, where the experiment was launched in November 2019. The launch catapult and deceleration systems impose strong axial g-loads to a system that is confined in the reduced capsule environment. Redundant procedures are implemented to measure the first two lateral sloshing frequencies and damping ratios of the magnetic liquid, as well as its equilibrium surface in microgravity. Ideal vertical resolutions between 0.25 and 0.4 mm/px can be achieved with the configuration here proposed. The final performance depends, among other factors, on the correct application of the robust calibration procedure that is documented in this work.
