Surface Tension and Contact Angle Analysis with Design of Propellant Measurement Apparatus

Abstract

Propellant management devices located within the propellant tanks of spacecraft and satellites operating in microgravity environment are used to control propellant distribution within the tank to improve vehicle dynamics and performance. In the microgravity environment, viscous and capillary forces can dominate body forces, and special considerations of these effects must be taken into account when designing a unique propellant management device for each mission and propellant combination. New high-performance green propellants are under development to improve performance and reduced mission costs, and to elicit efforts to further improve design of fueltailored propellant storage and feed systems. This paper presents the design and implementation of apparatuses intended to obtain high-quality imagery of liquids in exotic environments consistent with propellant tanks for rockets and spacecraft, as well as a review and comparison of several droplet photograph analyzing techniques used to determine surface tension and wall contact angle. This paper's review of testing and analysis techniques, as well as its development of a testing apparatus that can sustain an adequately pressurized environment for cryogenic gases in addition to chemical compatibility for solvent-based propellants, can be used to design spacecraft or satellite propellant management devices that operate with newly emerging propellants.

Capillary-flow dynamics in open rectangular microchannels

“…2018), heat pipes (Faghri 1995), propellant management devices in spacecrafts (Levine et al. 2015) and fabrication of flexible printed electronics (Cao et al. 2018; Jochem et al.…”

“…Capillary flow is the spontaneous wicking of liquid in narrow spaces without the assistance of, or even in opposition to, external forces such as gravity. This phenomenon has been investigated since the early twentieth century and has been exploited for a diverse range of applications including lab-on-a-chip devices (Olanrewaju et al 2018), heat pipes (Faghri 1995), propellant management devices in spacecrafts (Levine et al 2015) and fabrication of flexible printed electronics (Cao et al 2018;Jochem et al 2018).…”

Capillary flow of liquids in open microchannels: overview and recent advances

“…Examples of capillary flow can be found in diverse fields, ranging from physiology, where capillary flow is essential for the drainage of tear fluid from the eye, to flexible printed electronics manufacturing 1 – 3 , where capillary flow is used to create electronic circuits that can be used in sensors for brain–machine interfacing. Additional applications include lab-on-a-chip devices 4 , 5 , heat pipes 6 , propellant management devices in spacecrafts 7 , paper-based microfluidics 8 , fuel cells 9 , porous-media flows 10 , 11 , and storage and handling of fluids and waste in low-gravity environments 12 , 13 . Understanding the mechanism of capillary flow and finding ways to control it has been a subject of investigation since the early twentieth century.…”

Why capillary flows in slender triangular grooves are so stable against disturbances

“…It has been known for centuries that wetting liquids will rapidly and spontaneously creep along surfaces containing grooves, interior corners, crevices or roughened areas, a process known as wicking. Since the late 1960s, researchers have been incorporating this passive and reliable method of flow control in the design of novel propellant management devices able to store, channel and meter fuel resourcefully in microgravity environments [1][2][3][4][5]. Such systems have significantly extended mission lifetimes of spacecraft and satellites, enabling future interplanetary explorations as well.…”

“…5. (Color online)Representative self-similar solutions S(η) for terminating(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7), advancing(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), uniform(14) and receding(15)(16)(17) states. The computational domain used in numerically solving for these solutions was [0 ≤ η ≤ 80].…”