Conceptual study of a mini fluid science laboratory (MFSL) : Part IV: executive summary

This executive summary reports the results of the conceptual study of a mini fluid science laboratory (MFSL). The MFSL is designed to provide effective microgravity on earth and so allows substantiation of the viability of fluid physics experiments in space-based laboratories. Detailed results have been reported in parts I through III of NLR CR 90378 L. Microgravity simulation is realized by reduction of the geometrical size of an experiment configuration. In this way, dimensionless numbers, that contain gravity and characteristic lengths, can sometimes be maintained at values that would apply in microgravity. The outcome of the study are two conceptual designs. One is for the setup of a miniature liquid column and provides the conditioning, stimuli and diagnostic instrumentation. The other configuration is designed for observation of crystal growth front instabilities in a cell of small vertical dimension (Hele-Shaw cell).