Assessment of the T5 and T6 hollow cathodes as reaction control thrusters
Assessment of the T5 and T6 hollow cathodes as reaction control thrusters
Hollow cathodes have been proposed as reaction control thrusters for all-electric and small spacecraft. This paper makes an assessment of modified T5 and T6 hollow cathodes for use as millinewton range thrusters. The influence of terminal parameters such as discharge current, mass flow rate, and cathode/anode geometry on thrust production is discussed. The data indicate that the T5 cathode may be able to develop specific impulses in the range of 150–250 s with argon at reasonable thrust efficiencies of up to 14%. As such, hollow-cathode thrusters may meet some limited applications. However, it is unlikely that this type of thruster could be improved significantly or could compete with similar thrusters in the same operating range. High specific impulse operation is also shown to develop large discharge voltage fluctuations, which may significantly limit the lifetime of such a device.
810-820
Grubisic, Angelo
a4cab763-bbc0-4130-af65-229ae674e8c8
Gabriel, Stephen B.
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259
July 2016
Grubisic, Angelo
a4cab763-bbc0-4130-af65-229ae674e8c8
Gabriel, Stephen B.
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259
Grubisic, Angelo and Gabriel, Stephen B.
(2016)
Assessment of the T5 and T6 hollow cathodes as reaction control thrusters.
Journal of Propulsion and Power, 32 (4), .
(doi:10.2514/1.b35556).
Abstract
Hollow cathodes have been proposed as reaction control thrusters for all-electric and small spacecraft. This paper makes an assessment of modified T5 and T6 hollow cathodes for use as millinewton range thrusters. The influence of terminal parameters such as discharge current, mass flow rate, and cathode/anode geometry on thrust production is discussed. The data indicate that the T5 cathode may be able to develop specific impulses in the range of 150–250 s with argon at reasonable thrust efficiencies of up to 14%. As such, hollow-cathode thrusters may meet some limited applications. However, it is unlikely that this type of thruster could be improved significantly or could compete with similar thrusters in the same operating range. High specific impulse operation is also shown to develop large discharge voltage fluctuations, which may significantly limit the lifetime of such a device.
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Accepted/In Press date: 10 November 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 May 2016
Published date: July 2016
Organisations:
Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Astronautics Group
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 397826
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/397826
ISSN: 0748-4658
PURE UUID: fee63f95-3255-4837-bfbb-ede4687cedc4
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Date deposited: 07 Jul 2016 10:15
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 01:23
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Author:
Stephen B. Gabriel
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