Effect of ceramic nozzle on performance of pulsed plasma thruster

Pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) is one of the most promising electric propulsions system. Its main drawback is the low thrust efficiency. A theoretical analysis is given in this paper for exploring the reasons. The low electrothermal acceleration efficiency is concluded as an important factor. For improving the electrothermal acceleration, a new electrode structure associated with a nozzle was designed and adopted. The experimental result shows that the new electrode impaired the electromagnetic acceleration slightly. But the overall thrust was improved significantly. It means that the electrothermal acceleration was enhanced distinctly. The thrust efficiency was also improved remarkably. The simple electrode structure with a nozzle implicates an efficient way to improve the performance of PPT.