Magnetic Positive Positioning: Toward the application in space propulsion

Lateral and Axisymmetric Ferrofluid Oscillations in a Cylindrical Tank in Microgravity

“…II is able to predict the lateral sloshing parameters of a highly-susceptible low-viscosity magnetic liquid in microgravity. This is important for future space applications involving magnetic positive positioning or magnetic liquid sloshing [16] since lateral oscillations represent the largest fuel-induced attitude control disturbance.…”

“…The simulation of low-gravity multiphase flows subject to inhomogeneous polarization forces is severely complicated by the coupling between fluid and magnetic problems and the presence of strong capillary forces [16]. However, some of the most important space applications can still be addressed by means of efficient quasi-analytical tools.…”

“…Following the track of classical low-gravity fluid mechanics research [17,18], recent works have focused on the study of the equilibrium, stability, and free surface oscillations of inviscid magnetic liquid interfaces [19]. The latter is of particular importance for the development of novel magnetic liquid sloshing control devices, which have been recently proposed to complement or substitute traditional capillary propellant management devices [16]. The final goal of such systems is to transform a highly unpredictable propellant sloshing problem into a simple and reliable superposition of analogous linear oscillators.…”

Magnetic phase separation in microgravity

“…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] .…”

Free surface reconstruction of opaque liquids in microgravity. Part 2: Drop tower campaign

“…The understanding of this phenomenon is of major importance for the study and characterization of the dynamics of space vehicles [2,3]. As a way to control the position of liquids in low-gravity environments, the application of electric [4] and magnetic [5][6][7][8][9][10] fields has been proposed to generate a gravity-equivalent restoring force. The magnetic approach receives the name of Magnetic Positive Positioning (MP 2 ).…”