Data quality assessment of Diffusion Coefficient Measurements in ternary mIXtures 4 (DCMIX4) experiment. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mialdun, Aliaksandr; Bou-Ali, Mounir M.; Braibanti, Marco; Croccolo, Fabrizio; Errarte, Ane; Ezquerro, José Miguel; Fernández, José Javier; García-Fernández, Loreto; Galand, Quentin; Gaponenko, Yuri; Gavaldà, Fina; Köhler, Werner; Lyubimova, Tatyana; Ortiz de Zárate, José María; Rodríguez, Jacobo; Ruiz, Xavier; Ryzhkov, Ilya I.; Schraml, Marcel; Shevtsova, Valentina; Van Vaerenbergh, Stephan; Yasnou, Viktar; Bataller, Henri
• Is Part Of: Acta astronautica. Volume 176(2020)
• Page Start: 204
• Page End: 215
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: International space station -- Thermodiffusion -- Ternary mixtures -- Phase-shifting interferometry -- Thermal regulation stability; Astronautics -- Periodicals; Outer space -- Exploration -- Periodicals; Astronautics; Periodicals; 629.405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.06.020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-5765

Abstract

Abstract: Thermodiffusion, which leads to a component separation in a mixture due to the thermal gradient, still does not have an unambiguous microscopic picture. Therefore, experimental studies, especially in convection free environment, are important. As part of the 4th campaign on the DCMIX project, thermodiffusion experiments on three compositions of the toluene-methanol-cyclohexane ternary mixture, on a mixture of fullerene-tetralin-toluene and on a mixture of polystyrene-toluene-cyclohexane have been performed in microgravity conditions on board the International Space Station. A binary mixture of polystyrene-toluene has been filled into the companion cell for the campaign. The Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument (SODI), wich is a two-wavelength Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the ternary mixtures, plus a monochromatic Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the binary mixture, has been used in order to obtain the temperature and the concentration fields in the cells. Precisely, it is a 5-steps phase-shifting interferometry technique which is implemented with SODI, producing by means of laser illumination a set of 5 phase-shifted images of π / 2 between them as function of the time. A total of 58 runs of various durations and at different mean temperatures have been conducted. Here, we evaluate the contrast of the interferograms, the quality in the phase stepping, the stability of the thermal regulation of the experiments and the level of environmental disturbances on board the space station during the campaign. Highlights: 4th campaign of the DCMIX project on board the ISS. New interferogram contrast definition detecting lasers mode hopping. Phase-stepping quality parameter introduction for phase-shifting interferometry. Assessment of the temperature regulation during experiments. Level of environmental disturbances control of the station during the campaign.