TY - GEN
T1 - Relation analysis of the thrust efficiency and other parameters of pulsed plasma thrusters
AU - Yang, Tsung Ying
AU - Li, Yueh Heng
AU - Huang, Ping Han
AU - Liu, Sheng Wen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - A pulsed plasma thruster (PPT), a kind of electric propulsion system, is one of the CubeSats' most widely used thrusters. What features a PPT is its high specific impulse that can operate even in low power conditions. Meanwhile, trim sizes, simple structure, and longer lifetimes are PPT's advantages as well. Compared with other electric propulsion systems, though, PPT's thrust efficiency is almost the lowest (approximately 10%). On the other hand, the thrust formation of a PPT constitutes not only the electromagnetic force (the Lorentz force) but also electrostatic force, electrothermal force, and neutral gas. For analyzing such a complicated discharge mechanism, we utilize the parallel type of a PPT to be our prototype since different configurations of electrodes and thrusters will affect the thrust composition. With the PPT discharges, we can obtain the theoretical values of impulse bit. Simultaneously, the specific impulse and the thrust efficiency can be derived with the measurement of the average mass consumption after hundreds to thousands of discharge times. In addition, we alter the number of segmented electrodes and the main discharge energy to shed light on PPT's discharge mechanism. Furthermore, the relationship between power conversion efficiency and its energy losses is worthy of clarification and discussion. All things considered, these results could provide several reliable design guidelines for PPTs in the future.
AB - A pulsed plasma thruster (PPT), a kind of electric propulsion system, is one of the CubeSats' most widely used thrusters. What features a PPT is its high specific impulse that can operate even in low power conditions. Meanwhile, trim sizes, simple structure, and longer lifetimes are PPT's advantages as well. Compared with other electric propulsion systems, though, PPT's thrust efficiency is almost the lowest (approximately 10%). On the other hand, the thrust formation of a PPT constitutes not only the electromagnetic force (the Lorentz force) but also electrostatic force, electrothermal force, and neutral gas. For analyzing such a complicated discharge mechanism, we utilize the parallel type of a PPT to be our prototype since different configurations of electrodes and thrusters will affect the thrust composition. With the PPT discharges, we can obtain the theoretical values of impulse bit. Simultaneously, the specific impulse and the thrust efficiency can be derived with the measurement of the average mass consumption after hundreds to thousands of discharge times. In addition, we alter the number of segmented electrodes and the main discharge energy to shed light on PPT's discharge mechanism. Furthermore, the relationship between power conversion efficiency and its energy losses is worthy of clarification and discussion. All things considered, these results could provide several reliable design guidelines for PPTs in the future.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180538306&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85180538306&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ICARES60489.2023.10329799
DO - 10.1109/ICARES60489.2023.10329799
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85180538306
T3 - 2023 IEEE International Conference on Aerospace Electronics and Remote Sensing Technology, ICARES 2023
BT - 2023 IEEE International Conference on Aerospace Electronics and Remote Sensing Technology, ICARES 2023
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2023 IEEE International Conference on Aerospace Electronics and Remote Sensing Technology, ICARES 2023
Y2 - 26 October 2023 through 27 October 2023
ER -