Solid propellant pulsed plasma thruster driven by magnetic pulse compression circuit

Author

Sakamoto, Takanori ; Tanabe, Takasumi ; Katsuki, S. ; Akiyama, Hidenori

Author_Institution

Grad. Sch. of Sci. & Technol., Kumamoto Univ., Kumamoto, Japan

fYear

2013

fDate

16-21 June 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

This study presents an SPPT (solid propellant pulsed plasma thruster) driven by an MPC (magnetic pulse compression) pulse generator with the aim of achieving efficient utilization of propellant. The stepwise current waveform formed by saturable inductor and ultra-short discharge current holds promise to control propellant supply for efficient acceleration. A prototype of co-axial electrode type MPC-SPPT was fabricated and tested to demonstrate adaptability of the MPC for use as power source for the PPT. Thrust performance of MPC-SPPT equipped with two kinds of MPC (163ns current pulse width, 30.5J discharge energy; 1us current pulse width, 21J discharge energy) was evaluated. Advantages and capabilities of an MPC-SPPT system are discussed based on the acquired experimental results.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; ion engines; propellants; pulse compression; magnetic pulse compression circuit; pulse generator; saturable inductor; solid propellant pulsed plasma thruster; stepwise current waveform; ultra-short discharge current; Discharges (electric); Electrodes; Fault diagnosis; Magnetic materials; Photonic crystals; Plasmas; Propulsion;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Pulsed Power Conference (PPC), 2013 19th IEEE

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA

ISSN

2158-4915

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPC.2013.6627616

Filename

6627616