ARTICLE:

• THERMAL ANALYSIS OF IRON RODS BURNING IN NORMAL-GRAVITY AND REDUCED-GRAVITY  download article

N. R. Ward
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

T. A. Steinberg
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the effect of reduced gravity on burning metals. Previous work has shown that metals burn faster and perhaps hotter in a reduced-gravity environment. This paper assesses two possible causes for the increased melting rates observed when metals burn in reduced gravity: higher temperatures within the attached molten mass and altered interfacial geometry between the solid and liquid phases. Presented for both gravity regimes are descriptions of the burning metal system and a summary of the similarities and differences observed during burning. The results of a series of experiments which involved burning iron in normal gravity with a transition during each test to reduced gravity are also included. Thermal analysis, estimating heat transfer rates into the solid metal under each gravity level, is presented. The increase in propagation rate for iron burning in reduced gravity is shown to be due to changes in the geometry of the solid/liquid interface and not increased temperatures.

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