Corkscrew "cups" for fluids in microgravity

[docm]

Link...<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><b>Corkscrew cups could keep space drinks flowing</b><br /><br />Space tourists may one day drink coffee served in "cups" made from corkscrews of ribbon-like material that miraculously keep liquid suspended in their centre.<br /><br />Holding liquids this way could solve the tricky problem of getting fluid out of an open container in microgravity, researchers say. They add that the same approach may also prove useful to nanotechnologists working with tiny samples of liquid.<br /><br />On Earth we rely on gravity to get liquids to pour from an open container. But getting liquid out of a container in microgravity requires pumping it out, for example sucking it through a straw.<br /><br />Often, this is a frustrating process, as the fluid breaks up into globules because of the way pressure inside the liquid interacts with the shape of most containers.<br /><br />"You can withdraw it up to a point, but then end up with fluid sticking around the bottom of the glass," says Brian Lowry, a chemical engineer at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. "You have to chase around to get it all out."<br />Smooth flow<br /><br />This impacts on more than astronauts' coffee breaks too. Space engineering systems that need to transport liquids to keep spacecraft running smoothly face the same problem. The normal solution is to pressurise containers so that liquid is driven out whenever a vent is opened, says Lowry.<br /><br />An alternative solution tested by Lowry and colleague Heather-Jean May, also of the University of New Brunswick, is based on their analysis of helical shapes.<br /><br />These forms should function much better as containers for holding fluids in microgravity, they say surface tension holds liquid inside the coil and the properties of the shape's surface allow fluid to be suck</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

Fascinating!<br /><br />That helix concept might have potential as propellant tank baffling in an upper stage such as the Centaur.

 

[j05h]

Rockin' cool with the surface tension. That is really neat. GnR has a good idea, using this inside tankage. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>