Skip to main content

CSLM

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM)

The Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM) experiment is a materials science space flight experiment whose purpose is to investigate the kinetics of competitive particle growth within a liquid matrix. During coarsening, small particles shrink by losing atoms to larger particles, causing the larger particles to grow. In this experiment solid particles of tin will grow (coarsen) within a liquid lead-tin eutectic matrix. By conducting this experiment in a microgravity environment, a greater range of solid volume fractions can be studied, and the effects of convection present in terrestrial experiments will be negligible. The flight hardware consists of two separable pieces of equipment, the sample processing unit (SPU) and the electronic control unit (ECU).

 
CSLM
View of the CSLM-3 hardware located in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2)

In an effort to reduce the total interfacial area per volume, two-phase mixtures undergo coarsening wherein large particles

CSLM
View of the CSLM-3 hardware located in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixtures-3 (CSLM-3)

The CSLM-3 investigation expects to grow and examine metal dendrites (i.e., tree-like structures) that form during

CSLM
View of the CSLM-3 hardware located in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixtures-4 (CSLM-4)

In the predecessor CSLM-3 study, samples are a mixture consisting of Sn (tin)-rich particles in lead-tin liquid, a mixture

Contact Information

PI: Professor Peter W. Voorhees, Northwestern University
PS: Dr. Walter Duval, NASA GRC
PM: Robert Hawersaat, NASA GRC
Engineering Team: ZIN Technologies, Inc.

Provide feedback