High-Temperature Metallic Melts – Resistivity IIntercomparison for Space Applications

Liquid state densities and electrical resistivities of pure copper and nickel as well as some of their binary alloys in the vicinity of the constantan mixing ratio (Cu53Ni47 at%) weremeasured by electromagnetic levitation and pulse-heating techniques. The experiments were performed as part of a joint project between the German Aerospace CeInter (DLR) and Graz University of Technology (TUG) with the main objective being to compare and support deeper understanding of different techniques for electrical resistivity measurements and their data. The manufacture of a levitation experiment similar to the setup at DLR is underway, which is scheduled for microgravity (μg) experiments onboard the ISS in 2010. As a first step, DLR performed measurements on a set of binary Cu–Ni-alloys (as well as two pure constituents), and independent experiments for constantan and the two pure metals were conducted at TUG. The results give promising agreement between the two techniques, show a reasonable overlap within the estimated uncertainties, and lead the way to more comparative measurements with newly developed materials