To obtain accurate data for precise models, it is best to measure viscosity in liquid that is free-floating and uncontained.

This is particularly true for exotic glasses created by undercooling - cooling the glass below the temperature at which it would normally form a solid. When glass is processed on Earth, the molten glass crystallizes if it touches any part of the container wall, and the viscosity cannot be measured once the liquid crystallizes. Studying extremely viscous materials in space, such as glass, can also provide data that is difficult to obtain on Earth. The FMVM experiment will verify a new method for measuring the viscosity of viscous liquids by measuring the time it takes for the two spheres to coalescence into a single spherical drop. This method cannot be used on more viscous liquids. Scientists can measure the viscosity of low viscosity liquids such as molten metal in low-gravity, by measuring vibrations of liquid drops. Understanding and controlling viscosity can even enable researchers to make new materials or improve existing ones. It is one of the key parameters that materials scientists must measure to create accurate models predicting the best methods for materials production. Understanding the viscosity of molten materials is important for everything from designing laboratory experiments to industrial production of materials. Water molecules would flow through a small tube quicker than honey because its molecules are less viscous the more viscous honey would move through the same tube at a slower rate. For example, honey is more viscous than water. Viscosity can be thought of as 'thickness' of the fluid. Project Manager: Jim Kennedy, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.įor this experiment, scientists are mainly interested in studying viscosity - a property of fluids that causes them to resist flowing because of the internal friction created as the molecules move against each other. William Kaukler, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Ala. Basil Antar, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, Tenn., and Dr. Edwin Ethridge, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., Dr. Mission: To be delivered on Progress 13P experiment to be conducted during International Space Station Expedition 8 and/or Expedition 9Įxperiment Location: Maintenance Work Area in Destiny Laboratory Module Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM)Įxperiment Name: Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM)

Best surface for viscosity test