3-D modeling and simulation of crystal growth of GE₀.₉₈ Si₀.₀₂ under the influence of various gravity levels, G-jitter and rotating magnetic field using traveling solvent method

A three-dimensional numerical simulation was conducted to study the effect of a rotating magnetic (RMF) field on the fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer in the presence of various gravity levels by utilizing the traveling solvent method (TSM). The presence of the RMF suppressed the buoyancy convection in the GE₀.₉₈ Si₀.₀₂ solution zone in order to get homogeneity with a flat growth interface. It was found that the intensity of the flow at the centre of the crucible decreased at a faster rate compared to the flow near the walls when increasing magnetic field intensity is combined with a certain rotational speed. This behavior created a stable and uniform silicon distribution in the horizontal plane near the growth interface in the terrestrial condition. Different magnetic field intensities for different rotational speeds were examined in both terrestrial and micro-gravity conditions. The effects of residual acceleration, known as G-jitter, on board the International Space Station and European Space Orbiter were also investigated.

3-D modeling and simulation of crystal growth of GE₀.₉₈ Si₀.₀₂ under the influence of various gravity levels, G-jitter and rotating magnetic field using traveling solvent method

A three-dimensional numerical simulation was conducted to study the effect of a rotating magnetic (RMF) field on the fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer in the presence of various gravity levels by utilizing the traveling solvent method (TSM). The presence of the RMF suppressed the buoyancy convection in the GE₀.₉₈ Si₀.₀₂ solution zone in order to get homogeneity with a flat growth interface. It was found that the intensity of the flow at the centre of the crucible decreased at a faster rate compared to the flow near the walls when increasing magnetic field intensity is combined with a certain rotational speed. This behavior created a stable and uniform silicon distribution in the horizontal plane near the growth interface in the terrestrial condition. Different magnetic field intensities for different rotational speeds were examined in both terrestrial and micro-gravity conditions. The effects of residual acceleration, known as G-jitter, on board the International Space Station and European Space Orbiter were also investigated.

Effects of simulated weightlessness on thermal sweating of human body: An experimental study

Thermal sweating is the thermoregulatory activity of the human body in hot and warm environments, which is critical to the human thermal comfort and health. The sweating of a human body in a real weightlessness environment has seldom been researched, and simulated weightlessness has usually been conducted under comfortable environments. In order to study the sweating of the human body under weightlessness, a 7-day −6° head down bed rest experiment was carried out on six male subjects lying on their backs to simulate the physiological changes that occur under a weightless environment. The skin microcurrents of the subjects were recorded to evaluate sweating under a range of environments. The results showed that sweating was more significant in the torso and head areas than on the arms and lower body. The whole body sweat rates of subjects were lower than those before the simulated weightlessness experiment. However, the threshold air temperature for the onset of sweating under simulated weightlessness was higher than that before the simulation. This was possibly due to the raising of thermoregulatory set-point temperature of the body. Findings have shown that the sweating behaviour and thermal response of a male human body in a weightless environment could be different to those in the terrestrial condition.

The Terrestrial Condition

Chapter 4 explores Levinas’s critique of Heidegger and Sartre’s conceptions of the Being-thrown.

Bulk Growth of InGaSb Alloy Semiconductor under Terrestrial Conditions: A Preliminary Study for Microgravity Experiments at ISS

As a preliminary experiment for the growth of InGaSb alloy crystals under microgravity at International Space Station (ISS), bulk crystal was grown under terrestrial condition using the same gradient heating furnace (GHF). Czochralski grown GaSb <111>B single crystal was used as a seed and feed crystals for the growth of InGaSb bulk crystals. During the growth, heat pulses were intentionally introduced periodically to create the growth striations. From the striations, the growth rate of the grown crystal was estimated. The results show that the growth rate was gradually increased from the beginning of the growth and became stable. On the other hand the In composition of the grown crystal decreased along the growth direction. From the In composition, the temperature gradient in the solution was estimated and it was almost the same of that fixed during the growth.

Vasotocin/V2-Type Receptor/Aquaporin Axis Exists in African Lungfish Kidney but Is Functional Only in Terrestrial Condition

The vasopressin/vasotocin (VT)-V2-type receptor (V2R)-aquaporin (AQP)-2 axis plays a pivotal role in renal water reabsorption in tetrapods. It is widely thought that this axis evolved with the emergence of the tetrapods, reflecting a requirement of water retention in terrestrial environment. Here we report that lungfish, the closest living relatives of tetrapods, already possess a system similar to the VT-V2R-AQP2 axis in the kidney, but the system is functional only in the terrestrial estivating condition. We cloned a novel AQP paralogous to AQP0. The water permeability of Xenopus oocytes was increased by injection with the AQP cRNA and was further facilitated by preincubation with cAMP. In the kidney of estivating lungfish, the AQP protein was localized on the apical plasma membrane of the late distal tubule and was colocalized with basolateral V2R. By contrast, we found only little expression of the AQP mRNA and protein in the kidney of lungfish in aquatic condition. The expression levels of mRNA and protein were dramatically increased during estivation and decreased again by reacclimation of estivating lungfish to water. The AQP mRNA levels positively correlated with the VT mRNA levels in the hypothalamus, suggesting that the AQP exerts tubular antidiuretic action under control of VT. Because the tetrapod AQP2/AQP5 lineage is considered to be evolved from duplication of an AQP0 gene, the paralogous AQP0 in the lungfish probably represents ancestral molecule for tetrapod AQP2.

Gravity-Induced Convection during Directional Solidification of Hypermonotectic Alloys

A two-phase volume-averaging model developed for the simulation of the dynamic decomposition and solidification of hypermonotectic alloys was used to study the occurrence of convection phenomena during directional solidification of a hypermonotectic alloy (Al-10 wt.%Bi) under terrestrial condition. The model accounts for nucleation and growth of secondary phase droplets, Marangoni and Stokes forces, solute partitioning, heat release due to decomposition and solidification. It is shown that the appearance and growth of secondary droplets is accompanied with a continuous downwards motion of droplets, which rapidly becomes unstable. After relaxation of this dynamic motion the advancing solidification front freezes in the resulting non-uniform droplet distribution.