Browsing by Author "Kikuchi, Masao"
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Item Development Status of the Solid Combustion Experiment Module for Material Flammability Experiments on the ISS/Kibo(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Kikuchi, Masao; Nokura, Masaki; Suzuki, Takuma; Hosogai, Aki; Katsuta, Masato; Saruwatari, Hideki; Nakamura, Yasuhiro; Yamamoto, Shin; Goto, Yoshimasa; Sakaino, Yusuke; Hisashi, YasuyukiThe research project called “FLARE (Flammability Limits at Reduced Gravity Experiment)” is under way by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), in cooperation with several space agencies such as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency), and CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales). The objective of the project is establishment of the recommendation on the new evaluation standard of the material flammability in space, for improvement of fire safety in future manned space missions. In the framework of the project, on-orbit experiments on the ISS (International Space Station) are planned as well as the ground based experiments including relatively short duration microgravity experiments by parabolic flights. For the experiments on the ISS, an experimental apparatus tentatively called “SCEM (Solid Combustion Experiment Module)” has been developed by JAXA. The SCEM is installed into the MSPR (Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack) in the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo”. The SCEM consists of several sub-systems including combustion chamber, gas supply and vent control system, experimental inserts, observation and measurement system etc.. Development of the SCEM includes some challenging aspects between necessary capabilities for implementation of the planned experiments with various solid samples and various constraints such as high level safety requirements and limited crew time on the ISS. At present, preliminary design and various tests by prototype of the SCEM elements are on-going. In this paper, recent development status of the SCEM, including representative results from the element tests by prototype, is presented.Item Overview of the “Solid Combustion” Experiment in the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the International Space Station(45th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2015-07-12) Kikuchi, Masao; Fujita, Osamu; Takahashi, Shuhei; Ito, Akihiko; Torikai, Hiroyuki; Nakamura, Yuji; Olson, Sandra L.Fire safety in human-rated spacecraft or space station is one of the most important requirements for any human space mission. To prevent fires in space, material flammability tests such as NASA-STD-6001B standards have been widely employed. The tests are performed in a normal gravity environment. Previous research showed material flammability could be higher in microgravity environments for some conditions, so it is important to understand the impact of gravity-induced buoyant flow on material flammability. In 2010, the investigation titled “Quantitative Description of Gravity Impact on Solid Material Flammability as a base of Fire Safety in Space (Solid Combustion)” was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as an experiment candidate in the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the International Space Station (ISS). In the “Solid Combustion” experiment, three types of solid material (polyethylene insulated wires, thin PMMA sheets and thin filter papers) are selected as test samples. Flammability of these materials will be quantitatively determined in microgravity by evaluating the limits of two fundamental processes of solid combustion, which are (1) ignition limit of the solid material, and (2) flame spread limit (extinction limit) over the solid material. It is expected that the evaluation of the discrepancy between the data in normal gravity and microgravity will lead to improved understanding of the level of the conservatism of the existing material flammability tests. Also, a “material flammability map” for the selected samples will be produced as a fire safety database for spacecraft, which will be reference data to estimate the flammability of other solid materials. To date, a detailed consideration of the experimental plan in orbit and a conceptual design of the experiment specific hardware to be installed into the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) in the Kibo, have been performed. In this paper, an overview of the “Solid Combustion” experiment and the current status of the project will be presented.