Because gravity's effect on fluids is so strong, scientists cannot determine what effect other forces are having on fluid behavior. In microgravity, scientists can conduct experiments to observe fluids without the influence of gravity-driven convection or sedimentation. These effects become dominant in microgravity, allowing scientists to observe them without the competing influence of gravity. This type of flow is common in spacecraft cooling and life support systems, oil and gas pipelines, and nuclear power plants. Learning how microgravity will affect multiphase flows will help scientists and engineers design more efficient and reliable spacecraft systems and solve multiphase flow problems on Earth.
Many forces affect the behavior of fluids at interfaces.
On Earth, gravity overpowers many of the effects of wetting and surface tension, but in microgravity, scientists can better observe the effect of these forces. Experimenting in microgravity will help scientists to understand fluid behavior on Earth and to predict interfacial phenomena in space, which could lead to useful information such as where the fuel is located in a spacecraft tank while in orbit. This causes them to have unusual properties. Colloids are complex fluids that contain small particles of a solid or liquid. Foams, which are made up of many gas bubbles in a small amount of liquid, are also complex fluids.