Electro-Magnetic Levitation Experiments onboard the International Space Station (EML-ISS Sample Batch 5)

The objective of this opportunity is the selection of eighteen priority and an appropriate number (typically two or three) of back-up samples to serve as the so-called Batch 5 for the Electro-Magnetic Levitator onboard the International Space Station (EML-ISS). The EML-ISS enables containerless processing of metallic and other melts excluding the effects of gravity, and can be used for the study of solidification mechanisms (e.g., crystal nucleation and growth, multiphase growth, and glass formation) and the measurement of thermo-physical properties at unprecedented accuracy (e.g., specific heat capacity, surface tension and viscosity) amongst others. Extending scientific knowledge in these areas is of pinnacle importance in further advancing the predictive capabilities of numerical modelling approaches for casting and solidification processes, which in turn are key to the manufacturing of almost all (metallic) industrial and consumer goods on Earth.