Overview of NASA's Pulsed Plasma Thruster Development Program

Pencil, Eric; Kamhawi, Hani; Arrington, Lynn A.

doi:10.2514/6.2004-3455

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This NASA SBIR-founded research program developed a new discharge initiation (DI) system using a piezoelectric transformer to initiate the discharge of Pulsed Plasma Thrusters used in small satellites using solid-state spark-plugs [119][120][121][122]. The program took as a reference the design specifications of the PPT development for the Earth Orbit experimental satellite (EO-1) launched in November 2000.…”

Section: Development Of New Integrated Ignition Systems For Small Satmentioning

confidence: 99%

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Carazo¹

2016

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Piezoelectric transformers (PTs) are solid-state devices that transform electrical energy into electrical energy by means of a mechanical vibration. These devices are manufactured using piezoelectric materials that are driven at resonance. With appropriate design and circuitry, it is possible to step up and step down the voltages between the input and output sections of the piezoelectric transformer, without making use of magnetic materials and obtaining excellent conversion efficiencies. The initial concept of a piezoelectric ceramic transformer was proposed by Charles A. Rosen in 1954. Since then, the evolution of piezoelectric transformers through history has been linked to the relevant work of some excellent researchers as well as to the evolution in materials, manufacturing processes, and driving circuit techniques. This paper summarizes the historical evolution of the technology.Keywords: piezoelectric transformer; piezoelectric-based power supply; non-magnetic transformers Historical Introduction 1920s-1930s: Early Studies on Piezoelectric Transformers Using Salt Rochelle Single CrystalThe first studies on electrical to electrical conversion using piezoelectric materials took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Alexander McLean Nicolson has the honor of being the first researcher to investigate the idea of a piezoelectric transformer. Nicolson considered two single crystal blocks preloaded against each other with an external frame (Figure 1). Abstract: Piezoelectric transformers (PTs) are solid-state devices that transform electrical energy into electrical energy by means of a mechanical vibration. These devices are manufactured using piezoelectric materials that are driven at resonance. With appropriate design and circuitry, it is possible to step up and step down the voltages between the input and output sections of the piezoelectric transformer, without making use of magnetic materials and obtaining excellent conversion efficiencies. The initial concept of a piezoelectric ceramic transformer was proposed by Charles A. Rosen in 1954. Since then, the evolution of piezoelectric transformers through history has been linked to the relevant work of some excellent researchers as well as to the evolution in materials, manufacturing processes, and driving circuit techniques. This paper summarizes the historical evolution of the technology.

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Section: Development Of New Integrated Ignition Systems For Small Satmentioning

confidence: 99%

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Carazo¹

2016

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“…Calculating from the aforementioned thruster performance, it is also estimated that MINIT requires a propellant weight of approximately 0.32 kg for 1000 Ns impulse generation. Although the PPT is installed to NASA EO-1, which has a total wet weight of 4.95 kg, it can generate a total impulse of 460 Ns [1]. The MINIT system, with equal weight, can generate a total impulse of approximately 3000 Ns.…”

Section: System Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following demonstrations of micro-Newton and milliNewton class thrusters such as pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT) [1] and field emission electric propulsion (FEEP) [2], a miniature ion thruster with small thrust is also proposed as an attractive candidate for a small propulsion system because the ion thruster provides highspecificity impulse and its propellant is not pollutive to the satellite surface or the environment. In general, practical ion thrusters are classified according to their plasma production type: direct current discharge (DC), radio frequency discharge (RF), and microwave discharge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-Milli-Newton Class Miniature Microwave Ion Thruster

Nakayama

Funaki

Kuninaka

2007

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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A miniaturized microwave ion source with a 1.6-cm beam diameter grid system was designed and then evaluated experimentally. Based on the HAYABUSA 10 neutralizer, we fabricated a small 18-mm-diam discharge chamber, into which 4.2 GHz microwaves were launched through an L-shaped antenna that was located in a magnetic field created by permanent magnets and iron yokes. Ion beams were emitted from the small discharge chamber when operated with a grid system whose respective hole diameters of the screen grid and acceleration grid were 0.72 and 0.43 mm, and the total number of grid holes was 211. For a beam voltage of 1500 V and a microwave input power of 10 W, the typical thruster performance was thrust of 0.34 mN, a thrust/power ratio of 16 mN=kW, propellant utilization efficiency of 68%, and a specific impulse of 3200 s. If we were able to further reduce the ion production cost (circa 3000 W=A in the current experiment), this thruster would be a candidate for main propulsion of a small satellite or precise attitude control of various sizes of satellites.

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“…Trajectory optimization is critical to stable initial satellite formation deployment and successful subsequent formation reconfiguration. Continuous low-thrust satellite formation control has attracted much attention recently, because the thrust generated by the low-thrust engines is very small compared to conventional chemical rockets, but a very high specific impulse, or propellant efficiency, is obtained [3]. Various linear [4][5][6][7][8] and non-linear [9][10][11][12][13] optimization methods have been investigated for the low-thrust trajectory optimization problem for satellite formations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-optimal low-thrust satellite formation manoeuvre in presence of J₂ perturbation

Poh

2011

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G:

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This article proposes a method to determine energy-optimal low-thrust trajectories for satellite formation manoeuvre in the presence of the J2 effect. This manoeuvre is cast as a non-linear optimization problem with a desired final satellite formation configuration subjecting to collision avoidance constraint. With this proposed approach, the deputy satellite is manoeuvred into a quasi-periodic desired final formation with respect to the chief satellite in the presence of the J2 effect. Resulting non-linear optimal control problem is converted into non-linear programming (NLP) problem by a direct transcription method called Legendre pseudospectral method. The NLP problem is then solved using a sparse non-linear optimization algorithm. Simulation results validate the proposed optimal trajectory design for formation manoeuvres in the presence of the J2 effect.

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Overview of NASA's Pulsed Plasma Thruster Development Program

Cited by 19 publications

References 10 publications

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Sub-Milli-Newton Class Miniature Microwave Ion Thruster

Energy-optimal low-thrust satellite formation manoeuvre in presence of J₂ perturbation

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Overview of NASA's Pulsed Plasma Thruster Development Program

Cited by 19 publications

References 10 publications

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Piezoelectric Transformers: An Historical Review

Sub-Milli-Newton Class Miniature Microwave Ion Thruster

Energy-optimal low-thrust satellite formation manoeuvre in presence of J2 perturbation

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Product

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Energy-optimal low-thrust satellite formation manoeuvre in presence of J₂ perturbation