Abstract
Electric solid propellants are an interesting potential option for propulsion because they are ignited by an applied electric current. The electric nature of these materials leads to the capability for use in pulsed electric propulsion devices. In this work, the ablation process of an electric solid propellant during pulsed micro thruster operation is investigated using a triple Langmuir probe, thrust stand and high-speed video camera. Results include quantitative time-of-flight, ablation mass per pulse and impulse-per-pulse measurements. Additionally, qualitative images from the high-speed video are temporally correlated to these measurements. Analyses indicate 45±11% of the ablated mass per pulse is expelled at negligible speeds relative to the effective plume exhaust velocity (1500 m/s). Further, this occurs on a time scale that is three times longer than the 0.5 ms primary discharge. This late-time ablation has been identified in other pulsed micro thrusters with traditional Teflon propellant, and the results presented here indicate that electric solid propellant exhibits similar behavior.
Recommended Citation
M. S. Glascock et al., "Observation of Late-time Ablation in Electric Solid Propellant Pulsed Microthrusters," 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, 2016, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jan 2016.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2016-4845
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Publication Status
Full Access
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-162410406-0
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2016
