Study on the Plume Characteristics of Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Abstract

A current-model Triple Langmuir probe was developed and used to measure electron temperature and density of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster plume. To decreasing the errors in measurement, Probe, collection circuit and glow cleaning devices were elaborately designed. A FIR digital Filter based on Matlab was designed and the software for date processing was developed by Labview. Measurements were taken at various position in the plume of a Pulsed Plasma Thruster operating at discharge energy of 6-24J. The results show the thruster plume has electron temperatures in the range between 0.6and 5.4eV, electron densities between 0.9×1019 and 4.1x1021m-3 for all discharge energy levels considered. Electron temperature and density decrease with increasing angle away from the centerline and with decreasing discharge energy.

Influence of Electrode Flare Angle on the Performance of Pulsed Plasma Thruster

“…The thrust stand using "dynamic small thrust automatic measurement" patent technology (measuring range 1-1000µN, measurement error is less than the full range of ± 5%). more information about the measurement principle and calibration process can be found in the reference [8]. The mean exhaust velocity Applying a linear least square fit to the data present in Fig.…”