Title :
Transient heat transfer and gas flow in a MEMS-based thruster
Author :
Alexeenko, Alina A. ; Fedosov, Dmitry A. ; Gimelshein, Sergey F. ; Levin, Deborah A. ; Collins, Robert J.
Author_Institution :
Univ. Park, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA, USA
Abstract :
Time-dependent performance of a high-temperature MEMS-based thruster is studied in detail by a coupled thermal-fluid analysis. The material thermal response governed by the transient heat conduction equation is obtained using the finite element method. The low-Reynolds number gas flow in the microthruster is modeled by the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach. The temporal variation of the thruster material temperature and gas flowfields are obtained as well as the thruster operational time limits for thermally insulated and convectively cooled thrusters. The predicted thrust and mass discharge coefficient of both two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) micronozzles decreases in time as the viscous losses increase for higher wall temperatures.
Keywords :
Monte Carlo methods; aerospace propulsion; finite element analysis; heat conduction; microchannel flow; MEMS-based thruster; coupled thermal-fluid analysis; direct simulation Monte Carlo; finite element method; fluid flow; gas flow; kinetic methods; mass discharge coefficient; material temperature; microfluidics; micronozzles; microthruster; semiconductor device; space vehicle propulsion; thermal response; transient heat conduction equation; transient heat transfer; Conducting materials; Equations; Finite element methods; Fluid flow; Gas insulation; Heat transfer; Monte Carlo methods; Performance analysis; Temperature; Thermal conductivity; Fluid flow; kinetic methods; microfluidics; semiconductor device; space vehicle propulsion;
Journal_Title :
Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JMEMS.2005.859203
