Research and optimization of the hydraulic performance of bench lines for testing of low thrust spacecraft engines

Abstract

Low thrust engines perform important functional tasks in control systems of motion, orientation and stabilization of spacecraft on various paths and space orbits. They are subject to high-reliability and long operating time in pulsed modes with a large number of starts. Bench tests of the engines are a special part of the program development of low thrust engines with high reliability and efficiency. The article analyses wave processes in hydraulic lines of test benches, which prevent obtaining reliable parameters and performances of engines during tests. Authors show that the exclusion of oscillation processes in test bench systems is the main condition for the organization and planning of tests. Similarity conditions for bench hydraulic lines of spacecraft propulsion systems are developed. A methodology for estimating the frequency responses of the bench lines during pulsed test modes is presented. Mathematical functions of geometric parameters of the bench hydraulic lines on the pulse responses of low thrust engines are obtained, allowing optimization of the bench propellant feeding system to avoid resonance oscillation processes. Research results provide reliable estimates of the parameters and reliability of low thrust engines.