The UYNA experiment (Turkey) using the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) is commencing!

At the end of January 2024, UYNA experiment commenced, occurring within a new framework to promote commercial utilization of the ELF. Until now, only domestic Japanese companies have utilized the hardware. Hence, a foreign institution (TÜBİTAK in Turkey) has implemented the new system for ELF access for the first time!

The experiment measures thermophysical properties (density, surface tension, viscosity) of novel medium entropy and high entropy alloys (MEA/HEA alloys), in other words, alloys are formed by mixing relatively large proportions of some elements. These alloys are characterized by their high strength, toughness, and resistance to corrosion and have potential applications in aerospace and energy field. The data from this experiment will help to improve the understanding of the formation and properties of MEA/HEA alloys.

The UYNA experiment is also as part of Ax-3 mission from Axiom Space. The samples were launched with Ax-3 on January 18th, then Astronaut Alper Gezeravcı (first Turkish astronaut) handed them over to Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa in Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo”.

1. Principal Investigator: TÜBİTAK, Dr. Ömür Can ODABAŞ
2. Experimental name: Uzay İçin Yeni Nesil Alaşımlar (UYNA)　(English translation: Innovative Research on Novel Space Alloys)
3. Experiment objective: Measure thermophysical properties (density, surface tension, viscosity) of MEA/HEA alloys

▶ in Japanese