High Temperature Material Properties Measurement Capabilities of the MSFC Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) Laboratory

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. For improved measurement quality, the ESL lab also has an oxygen control system, which allows the oxygen partial pressure within the vacuum chamber to be measured and controlled, at elevated temperatures, over a wide range of partial pressures. The surface tension of metals is affected by even a small amount of adsorption of oxygen, and the presence of oxygen has been hypothesized as a likely cause for the large scatter seen in published surface tension data. This presentation will cover the MSFC ESL lab, its high temperature material properties measurement capabilities, and some information about measurements done on alloys relevant to additive manufacturing.