Direct thrust measurement stand with improved operation and force calibration technique for performance testing of pulsed micro-thrusters

Lun, Jonathan; Law, C.

doi:10.1088/0957-0233/25/9/095009

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The stand detects displacement due to impulsive thrust by means of a high-resolution fiber-optic laser displacement sensor. The stand allows for the mounting of multiple thrusters for a single thrust test sequence and can measure a wide range of impulse bits (0.3-600 μNs) to a maximum precision of 2% [15].…”

Section: Thrust Measurement Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Cathode Shape on Vacuum Arc Thruster Performance and Operation

Lun

Law

2015

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Vacuum arc thrusters (VATs) are a potentially useful technology for use as microthrusters, given their simplicity, low mass, and low-power requirements. However, further development is still needed to improve and mature their performance and operation. In an effort to improve thruster characteristics, we investigate the use of conically shaped convergent cathode surface profiles in a low-power coaxial VAT design. Experimental measurements of ion current density distribution, thrust, and erosion rate were taken for a range of cathode profiles and materials. Results show that modifying the profile of the cathode face can affect the plasma jet's plume distribution and even improve thrust production in certain cases. One likely cause of the thrust improvement is speculated to be increased charge exchange collisions resulting in a lower average ion charge state of the ejecting plasma.Index Terms-Cathode, diagnostics, ion charge state, ion current density distribution (ICDD), microthruster, plasma jet, propulsion, pulsed power, thrust stand, vacuum arc thruster (VAT).

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Section: Thrust Measurement Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Cathode Shape on Vacuum Arc Thruster Performance and Operation

Lun

Law

2015

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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“…Low-power vacuum arc thrusters have the known problem of a limited lifetime, which may vary from 10 3 ( 26 ) to 10 5 pulses ( 27 ), while the special constructions with the cathode feeding mechanism allow the achievement of several million pulses ( 28 ). In our previous study ( 29 ), we found that the lifetime of the μCAT firing in the high-power regime can be extended to more than 1 million pulses by optimizing the anode-cathode gap (extending it to around 1 mm) and providing the magnetic field, causing the movement of cathodic spot along the cathode surface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

et al. 2022

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Electric propulsion has become popular nowadays owing to the trend of miniaturizing the size and mass of satellites. However, the main drawback of the most popular approach—Hall thrusters—is that their efficiency and thrust-to-power ratio (TPR) markedly deteriorate when its size and power level are reduced. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach—a minute low-power (<50 W), lightweight (~100 g), two-stage propulsion system. The system is based on a micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster with magnetoplasmadynamic second stage (μCAT-MPD), which achieves the following parameters: a thrust of up to 1.7 mN at a TPR of 37 μN/W and an efficiency of ~50%. A μCAT-MPD system, in addition to “traditional” inverse, displays the anomalous direct (growing) “TPR versus specific impulse I sp ” trend at high I sp values and allows multimodality at high efficiency.

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“…Notice that at the current state the differential force measuring system is considered as portable and stand-alone force measurement system. With reference to jet propulsion technologies, our differential force measurement system may be considered as potential applications in the field of research and development for the calibration and characterization of pulsed micro-thrusters [31][32][33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards metering tap water by Lorentz force velocimetry

Vasilyan

Ebert

Weidner

et al. 2015

Meas. Sci. Technol.

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In this paper, we present enhanced flow rate measurement by applying the contactless Lorentz Force Velocimetry (LFV) technique. Particularly, we show that the LFV is a feasible technique for metering the flow rate of salt water in a rectangular channel. The measurements of the Lorentz forces as a function of the flow rate are presented for different electrical conductivities of the salt water. The smallest value of conductivity is achieved at 0.06 S•m −1 , which corresponds to the typical value of tap water. In comparison with previous results, the performance of LFV is improved by approximately 2 orders of magnitude by means of a high-precision differential force measurement setup. Furthermore, the sensitivity curve and the calibration factor of the flowmeter are provided based on extensive measurements for the flow velocities ranging from 0.2 to 2.5 m•s −1 and conductivities ranging from 0.06 to 10 S•m −1 .

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Direct thrust measurement stand with improved operation and force calibration technique for performance testing of pulsed micro-thrusters

Cited by 19 publications

References 14 publications

Influence of Cathode Shape on Vacuum Arc Thruster Performance and Operation

Influence of Cathode Shape on Vacuum Arc Thruster Performance and Operation

Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

Towards metering tap water by Lorentz force velocimetry

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