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Thrust Stand Measurements of a Conical Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Author:
Hallock, Ashley K.
Published:
April 29, 2013.
Physical Description:
1 electronic document
Additional Creators:
Polzin, Kurt A.
Online Version

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Summary:
Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (iPPT) spacecraft propulsion devices in which electrical energy is capacitively stored and then discharged through an inductive coil. The thruster is electrodeless, with a time-varying current in the coil interacting with a plasma covering the face of the coil to induce a plasma current Propellant is accelerated and expelled at a high exhaust velocity (O(10 -- 100 km/s)) by the Lorentz body force arising from the interaction of the magnetic field and the induced plasma current. While this class of thruster mitigates the life-limiting issues associated with electrode erosion, inductive pulsed plasma thrusters can suffer from both high pulse energy requirements imposed by the voltage demands of inductive propellant ionization, and low propellant utilization efficiencies. While this class of thruster mitigates the life-limiting issues associated with electrode erosion, inductive pulsed plasma thrusters can suffer from both high pulse energy requirements imposed by the voltage demands of inductive propellant ionization, and low propellant utilization efficiencies. A conical coil geometry may offer higher propellant utilization efficiency over that of a at inductive coil, however an increase in propellant utilization may be met with a decrease in axial electromagnetic acceleration, and in turn, a decrease in the total axially-directed kinetic energy imparted to the propellant.
Other Subject(s):
Collection:
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note:
Document ID: 20130014104.
M12-2243.
6th Spacecraft Propulsion Meeting; 29 Apr. - 3 May 2013; Colorado Springs, CO; United States.
7th Liquid Propulsion Meeting; 29 Apr. - 3 May 2013; Colorado Springs, CO; United States.
60th JANNAF Propulsion Meeting; 29 Apr. - 3 May 2013; Colorado Springs, CO; United States.
9th Modelling and Simulation Meeting; 29 Apr. - 3 May 2013; Colorado Springs, CO; United States.
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