Investigation of Low Energy Surface Flashover for Initiation of Pulsed Plasma Accelerators

Zhang, Yunping; Dary, Omar; Patel, Adam; Shashurin, Alexey

doi:10.2514/6.2019-1008

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The oscillation period of T=25 ns observed experimentally was consistent with the shorted LESF assembly inductance of L=0.6 μH. Additional details on estimating LESF parameters can be found in our previous works [12,13].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…A variety of ignition techniques have been used with varying success ranging from 400 to 1,000,000 firing cycles [3,9,11]. In our previous work, it has been demonstrated that low-energy surface flashover (LESF) is an attractive candidate for reliable and longlasting ignition for micropropulsion systems [12,13]. LESF modifies classic surface flashover between two metal electrodes separated by a dielectric material by limiting the amount of the energy available for each individual flashover event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Liquid-Fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster with Low-Energy Surface Flashover Igniter for Propelling Nanosatellites

Patel

Zhang

Shashurin

2020

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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This letter presents a novel micropropulsion system for nanosatellite applications -a liquid fed pulsed-plasma thruster (LF-PPT) comprised of a Lorentz-force pulsed plasma accelerator (PPA) and a lowenergy surface flashover (LESF) igniter. A 3 μF / 2 kV capacitor bank, offering shot energies of < 6 J, supported PPA current pulse durations of ~ 16 μs with observed peaks of 7.42 kA. Plasma jet exhaust velocity was measured at ~ 32 km/s using a time-of-flight technique via a set of double probes located along the jet's path. Intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) photography was concurrently leveraged to visualize plasma dynamics and mechanisms of the ignition / acceleration events. A peak thrust and impulse bit of 5.8 N and 35 μN·s, respectively, were estimated using large-area Langmuir probe measurements of total ion flux produced by the thruster.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%