Advanced high-temperature ultracentrifuge apparatus for mega-gravity materials science

Mashimo, Tsutomu; Huang, X.; Osakabe, Toyotaka; Ono, Masao*; Nishihara, Masamichi*; Ihara, Hirotaka*; Sueyoshi, Masanori*; Shibasaki, Koji*; Shibasaki, Shiro*; Mori, Nobuo*

Review of Scientific Instruments, 74(1), p.160 - 163, 2003/01

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1527718

An ultracentrifuge apparatus, which could generate an ultra-strong gravitational field of even 1,000,000 (1 million) G (1G = 9.8 m/s) in a wide temperature range up to 500C with high stability controls, was developed for new materials science research. The system consisted of an air turbine motor with ceramic ball bearings and dumper section, a sample rotor with an outer diameter up to 160 mm, a vacuum chamber and a heating system. The ultracentrifuge experiments using the 70 and 80 mm-diam rotors made of titanium alloy with rotational speeds of up to 170,000 rpm at temperatures of even over 200C for 100 hours with the ripples of 0.05% and 1 degree, respectively, were successfully performed, where the maximum gravitational field at sample was 1,000,000 G, and the potential energy and sample volume were larger than those of the Kumamoto University one (Rev. Sci. Instr. 67, 3170 (1996)) by 1.9 and 4 times, respectively.