Abstract
In 1992, we conducted an experiment related to particle dispersion alloys in FMPT (First Materials Processing Test). The purpose of the experiment was to clarify the effect of microgravity on the dispersibility of particles in the alloys. We selected TiC particle dispersion Ni-base alloys as experimental samples based on the concepts of liquid-phase sintering and wettability. The samples were carefully prepared in order to suppress bubble formation during melting. A newly designed Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF) was developed and used. The LIF enabled applying some pressure to molten samples to squeeze out residual bubble and eliminate Marangoni convection.With these careful arrangements, both terrestrial and space experiments were successful and could reveal important effects of microgravity. This article also describes my successes and failures I experienced through the FMPT project.
