​​​​Lemuel Raúl Ríos​ Santiago​​​​

Behavior of Liquids in Pathways with Wave-Shaped Walls under the Effects of Microgravity (Sponsored by NASA Glenn Research Center and Portland State University (PSU)

This research studied the effect of microgravity on capillary action. The experiment used Computer Aided Design (CAD) with a given template and DraftSight©ᵀᴹ software used to design the columns. It consisted of a CAD drawing which was developed with two channels of dissimilar wall configurations that had different separations on the pathways but made of the same waved walls. Testing and analysis of the manufactured tests cells took place in PSU’s Dryden Drop Tower, in which the test cells were dropped from 22 meters, experiencing 2.1 seconds of near weightless environment. The instruments recorded a series of images used to make two videos of the dropping scenario. Once all data was provided and downloaded, the resulted videos and images were analyzed. In general, even though the behavior of the low viscosity silicon oil was similar, it receded faster in the wet track than in the dry track. This could be due to the fact that the wet walls provide less friction than the dry ones and therefore enable a smoother flow of the low viscosity silicon oil. In both the wet track and the dry track, the oil in the bottom pathway flowed with more ease than in the upper pathway. This behavior can be explained by the difference in wall separation design. The upper track has segments where the pathway is very tight, alternated with ones where the walls are far apart. The bottom pathway, in contrast, has moderate curves that are closer to a straight line than the upper pathway.

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Publication: https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/CELERE-2019-handbook-20190204.pdf