Accession Number N20120004265
Title Nonlinear Electrostatic Properties of Lunar Dust.
Publication Date 2012
Media Count 5p
Personal Author S. A. Irwin
Abstract A laboratory experiment was designed to study the induction charging and charge decay characteristics of small dielectric particles, or glass beads. Initially, the goal of the experiment was further understanding of induction charging of lunar dust particles. However, the mechanism of charging became a point of greater interest as the project continued. Within an environmentally-controlled acrylic glove box was placed a large parallel plate capacitor at high-voltage (HV) power supply with reversible polarity. Spherical 1-mm and 0.5-mm glass beads, singly, were placed between the plates, and their behaviors recorded on video and quantified. Nearly a hundred trials at various humidities were performed. The analysis of the results indicated a non-linear relationship between humidity and particle charge exchange time (CET), for both sizes of beads. Further, a difference in CET for top-resting beads and bottom-resting beads hinted at a different charging mechanism than that of simple induction. Results from the I-mm bead trials were presented at several space science and physics conferences in 2008 and 2009, and were published as a Master's thesis in August 2009. Tangential work stemming from this project resulted in presentations at other international conferences in 2010, and selection to attend workshop on granular matter flow 2011.
Keywords Beads
Cameras
Charge exchange
Dielectrics
Electrostatics
Glass
Gloveboxes
Humidity
Lessons learned
Lunar dust
Nonlinearity
Parallel plates
Regression analysis

 
Source Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NTIS Subject Category 49 - Electrotechnology
54 - Astronomy & Astrophysics
84B - Extraterrestrial Exploration
Corporate Author National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cocoa Beach, FL. John F. Kennedy Space Center.
Document Type Technical report
Title Note Final Report.
NTIS Issue Number 1221
Contract Number N/A

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