Picture of the month - May 2022
AEXMARS: When AEXAM terraforms MARS!
AEXAM is an electromagnetic levitation device dedicated to the measurement of thermophysical properties of metals and alloys in the liquid state. The AC field produced by the inductor (on the left in the photo) is dipolar. It is used to levitate the sample, to melt it, as well as to excite its free surface by current modulations. The photo is a photomontage with a photo taken during the levitation and one after. Indeed, the levitating samples were taken during the levitation, and the inductor, as well as the holder on the ground, at the end of the experiment. These are copper samples, the one in yellow (in the inductor) was taken with a mobile phone camera, and the one in black and white (top right), with a high-speed camera dedicated to the experiment. At the end of this experiment, we had a fairly large deposit of copper (due to a significant heating of the latter) on the sample holder and around the inductor, as well as a bursting of Copper into several small balls, due to a sudden shutdown of the generator. With this reddish color we therefore thought of Mars.
Objects in the picture:
- An inductor, which can represent a Martian object
- 2 Copper samples, in levitation, one outside the inductor to symbolize a natural satellite of Mars and the other for the sun (Average diameter of the charge: ~ 7.2 mm.)
- the sample holder representing the ground of Mars, with copper balls
About the authors : Romain PONS is a PhD candidate in EPM group under the supervision of Olga Budenkova and Didier Chaussende, and Jolan DEMOTTIE is a trainee from IUT Mesures Physique, Grenoble.
Objects in the picture:
- An inductor, which can represent a Martian object
- 2 Copper samples, in levitation, one outside the inductor to symbolize a natural satellite of Mars and the other for the sun (Average diameter of the charge: ~ 7.2 mm.)
- the sample holder representing the ground of Mars, with copper balls
About the authors : Romain PONS is a PhD candidate in EPM group under the supervision of Olga Budenkova and Didier Chaussende, and Jolan DEMOTTIE is a trainee from IUT Mesures Physique, Grenoble.