Theoretical formulation for the performance of rectangular, breech-fed pulsed plasma thrusters

Pavlos G. Mikellides; Erik M. Henrikson; Surya S. Rajagopalan

doi:10.2514/1.B37447

Theoretical formulation for the performance of rectangular, breech-fed pulsed plasma thrusters

Pavlos G. Mikellides, Erik M. Henrikson, Surya S. Rajagopalan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

An approach based on strong electromagnetic acceleration produced simple closed-form analytic expressions for the ablated mass and total impulse per pulse for rectangular, breech-fed pulsed plasma thrusters. The theoretical model is validated by comparisons to experiments of a wide range of geometries and operating conditions showing very good agreement. The produced expressions quantify contributions from electromagnetic and gas dynamic acceleration; confirm, explain, and generalize trends observed by experiments; and offer additional guidelines for thruster improvements.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	811-818
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Propulsion and Power
Volume	35
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2514/1.B37447
State	Published - 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Aerospace Engineering
Fuel Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Space and Planetary Science

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abstract = "An approach based on strong electromagnetic acceleration produced simple closed-form analytic expressions for the ablated mass and total impulse per pulse for rectangular, breech-fed pulsed plasma thrusters. The theoretical model is validated by comparisons to experiments of a wide range of geometries and operating conditions showing very good agreement. The produced expressions quantify contributions from electromagnetic and gas dynamic acceleration; confirm, explain, and generalize trends observed by experiments; and offer additional guidelines for thruster improvements.",

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Theoretical formulation for the performance of rectangular, breech-fed pulsed plasma thrusters

Abstract

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