Microgravity is an ideal environment for several fundamental studies. Such an ideal experimental condition can be obtained by moving the experimental apparatus along the direction of gravitational acceleration, e.g. a free fall facility on earth, or orbiting it using a satellite or a spacecraft. Reducing the level of gravity promotes the simplest geometry for liquid and flames. As the buoyancy effect is significantly reduced, phenomena like capillary effect, interface and flame instabilities become more pronounced and experimentally attainable. Therefore microgravity experiments have become a powerful platform for model development. The valuable experimental data from microgravity experiments can be used to develop fundamental models for general application (droplet flame or near-limit gaseous flames) and of course, space applications (fluid system for spacecraft, astronaut suits, fire protection material, space fire regulations, flame spread characterization in a space fire event).

Faculty in this area:Wenkai Liang, Yu Cheng Liu, Qiang Yao, Suyuan Yu, Xiaoqing You