Earth and Space Science Project Abstract
DROPLET/SOLID SURFACE INTERACTIONS IN REDUCED GRAVITY PERTAINING TO MICROELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING: PART II
Presenter:
Angela Campbell, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 W. Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506; luvstrz@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Constantine Megaridis, Associate Professor and Associate Department Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607
Undergraduate Team members:
Jason Hagedorn, Chui Melvin, Eric Moore, Julie Schaefer, Biljana Zdravevski
Abstract:
Driven by solder jetting, a technological application in microelectronics manufacturing, this experiment, performed in ~10-2g on the NASA KC-135 plane, seeks to provide new insight on the impact dynamics of liquid-metal droplets on plate substrates. Due to the small size of the solder droplets employed in solder jetting and the fine time scales of the relevant transport and solidification phenomena, making experimental measurements at the actual scales is nearly impossible. By using dynamic similarity principles, we demonstrate that conducting the experiment using water droplets in reduced-gravity will allow us to investigate solder jetting phenomena in normal gravity. The experiment uses a rig that consists of a droplet generator assembly, a chamber, a high-speed visualization system and a lab top/control system to run the test series. This also being the second year UIC has participated in the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program, we complete physiological training and gain even more extensive knowledge in not only how to improve our experiment for the coming years, but also what the space program has to offer.