Ice Crystal Growth and Pattern Formation Experiments Conducted in KIBO of ISS(<Special Issue>Crystal Growth in Space part 2)

Abstract

Microgravity experiments on the morphological instability and pattern formation of ice crystals growing in the supercooled heavy water were carried out in the Japanese Experiment Module KIBO of the International Space Station in the period from December 2008 to March 2009. The velocities of dendrite tips parallel to the a-axis and the growth rates of basal faces parallel to the c-axis were analyzed in the same time under supercooling conditions from 0.03 to 2 K. The tip velocities of dendrite agreed with the theory for larger amounts of supercooling when the growth on the basal faces was not zero. The combined effect of tip velocity and basal face kinetics on pattern formation during the ice growth was discussed.