Abstract
Pulsed plasma thrusters ( PPTs) have been criticized for their low efficiency over long time periods. However, few studies were about the PPT energy distribution mechanism which is very important for providing references for the designs of high-performance PPTs. In this paper, a parallel-plate ablative pulsed plasma thruster was studied. The voltage, current and ablated mass of the PPT were measured under four different discharge energies. The propulsion performance of the PPT was estimated by the experimental data. In addition, a numerical model was established and used to calculate propellant utilization of a PPT. The results show that the low efficiency of PPTs comes form their low energy utilization and low propellant utilization. As the discharge energy increases, the PPT efficiency and energy utilization increase from 5.07% to 16.5% and from 2.88% to 5.23%, respectively. However, the propellant utilization decreases from 56.8% to 31.8% as the discharge energy increases.
| Translated title of the contribution | The energy distribution mechanism in an ablative pulsed plasma thruster |
|---|---|
| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Pages (from-to) | 38-45 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Chinese Space Science and Technology |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 25 Oct 2018 |