TY - JOUR
T1 - Axisymmetric Ferrofluid Oscillations in a Cylindrical Tank in Microgravity
AU - Romero-Calvo, Álvaro
AU - Herrada, Miguel Ángel
AU - Hermans, Tim H.J.
AU - Benítez, Lidia Parrilla
AU - Cano-Gómez, Gabriel
AU - Castro-Hernández, Elena
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The sloshing of liquids in low-gravity entails several technical challenges for spacecraft designers due to its effects on the dynamics and operation of space vehicles. Magnetic settling forces may be employed to position a susceptible liquid and address these issues. Although proposed in the early 1960s, this approach remains largely unexplored. In this paper, the equilibrium meniscus and axisymmetric oscillations of a ferrofluid solution in a cylindrical tank are studied for the first time while subject to a static inhomogeneous magnetic field in microgravity. Coupled fluid-magnetic simulations from a recently developed inviscid magnetic sloshing model are compared with measurements collected at ZARM’s drop tower during the ESA Drop Your Thesis! 2017 campaign. The importance of the fluid-magnetic interaction is explored by means of an alternative uncoupled framework for diluted magnetic solutions. The coupled model shows a better agreement with experimental results in the determination of the magnetic deformation trend of the meniscus, but the uncoupled framework gives a better prediction of the magnetic frequency response which finds no theoretical justification. Although larger datasets are required to perform a robust point-by-point validation, these results hint at the existence of unmodeled physical effects in the system.
AB - The sloshing of liquids in low-gravity entails several technical challenges for spacecraft designers due to its effects on the dynamics and operation of space vehicles. Magnetic settling forces may be employed to position a susceptible liquid and address these issues. Although proposed in the early 1960s, this approach remains largely unexplored. In this paper, the equilibrium meniscus and axisymmetric oscillations of a ferrofluid solution in a cylindrical tank are studied for the first time while subject to a static inhomogeneous magnetic field in microgravity. Coupled fluid-magnetic simulations from a recently developed inviscid magnetic sloshing model are compared with measurements collected at ZARM’s drop tower during the ESA Drop Your Thesis! 2017 campaign. The importance of the fluid-magnetic interaction is explored by means of an alternative uncoupled framework for diluted magnetic solutions. The coupled model shows a better agreement with experimental results in the determination of the magnetic deformation trend of the meniscus, but the uncoupled framework gives a better prediction of the magnetic frequency response which finds no theoretical justification. Although larger datasets are required to perform a robust point-by-point validation, these results hint at the existence of unmodeled physical effects in the system.
KW - Ferrofluids
KW - Liquid sloshing
KW - Magnetic Positive Positioning
KW - Microgravity
KW - Space propulsion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109167931&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12217-021-09894-4
DO - 10.1007/s12217-021-09894-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85109167931
SN - 0938-0108
VL - 33
JO - Microgravity Science and Technology
JF - Microgravity Science and Technology
IS - 4
M1 - 50
ER -