• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.251-254
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• 2006

Micro thruster is a key technology in the micro/nano satellite. MSPT has been attracted attention as a one of possible solution for micro thruster MSPT as a systems four components. It is composed of nozzle, igniter, combustion chamber and propellant. This paper surveys varioud MSPTs which have been reported. The model of MSPT arrays for total impulse of 1 mNs is proposed. Combustion chamber is designed and fabricated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.225-228
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• 2007

Micro solid propellant thruster is the most feasible for development with current MEMS. Basic components of micro solid propellant thruster are diverging nozzle, micro igniter, combustion chamber, and solid propellant. Micro nozzles and micro chambers were fabricated using photosensitive glass by anisotropic wet etching technique. Micro Pt heaters on glass membrane which ignited solid propellant were developed. Components of thruster were integrated. Successful ignition was observed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.77-84
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• 2006

With the development of micro/nano spacecraft, concepts of micro propulsion are introduced for orbit transfer and drag compensation as well as attitude control. Micro solid propellant thruster has been attention as one of possible solution for micro thruster. In this paper, micro solid propellant thruster is introduced and research on basic components of a micro solid propellant thruster is reported. Micro Pt igniter was fabricated through negative patterning and quantitative effect of geometry was estimated. The characteristic of HTPB/AP solid propellant was investigated to measure the homing velocity. A combustion chamber was fabricated by means of anisotropic etching of photosensitive glass. Finally, micro solid propellant thrusters having various geometries were fabricated and tested.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.780-789
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• 2008

A new method for measuring the performance of a micro-thruster is suggested in this paper. A few thrust stands have been developed for measuring micro-level thrusts. This paper describes a different measurement method that can minimize the calibration involved in the measurements, while providing the capability of directly measuring the produced minimum impulse bit directly. The underlying theory and the theoretical background for the measurement mechanism are described here. The theory and method is verified using a computer simulation, and the result is given in this paper. The theory has also been tested on an actual hardware. Although this hardware is a prototype, developed for proof-of-concept analysis, satisfactory results have been obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.581-586
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• 2008

The MEMS solid propellant thrusters have very low thrust level for applying to the propulsion system of micro/nano satellites or the side jet thruster of smart bombs. In this research, the fabrication possibility of planar type MEMS solid propellant thrusters that have enlarged burning surface area was examined and the safety of the structure of thruster during the firing test was confirmed. The performance of a micro igniter which is the key component of the MEMS solid propellant thruster was estimated by the ANSYS Icepak and evaluated by the experiment. Finally, the thrust was measured by the micro force sensor. The levels of thrust were 300, 600 mN in the case of K=15, 20.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.54-62
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• 2016

Micro plasma thruster (${\mu}PT$) was studied experimentally with a dual-stage micro-hollow cathode discharge (MHCD) plasma. Electrostatic-like acceleration exhibiting more directional and elongated exhaust plume was achieved by a dual layer MHCD at the total input power less than 10 W with argon flow rate of 40 sccm. V-I characteristic indicated that there was an optimal regime for dual-stage operation where the acceleration voltage across the second stage remained constant. Estimated exhaust plume length showed a similar trend to the analytic estimate of exhaust velocity which scales with an acceleration voltage. ${\mu}PT$ with multiple holes exhibited similar performance with single-hole thruster indicating that higher power loading is possible owing to decreased power through each hole. Boltzmann plot of atomic argon spectral lines showed average electron excitation temperature of about 2.6 eV (~30,170 K) in the exhaust plume.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.757-763
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• 2017

The combustion test of LMP-103S, a propellant based on ADN(Ammonium Dinitramide), was performed with a 50 mN scale micro-thruster. The micro-thruster was made with photosensitive glass using MEMS manufacturing process. $Pt/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ was used as a catalyst to decompose LMP-103S. After injecting 90 wt.% hydrogen peroxide into combustion chamber to preheat the catalyst, LMP-103S was injected for the combustion test. As a result, the ignition and combustion of LMP-103S was confirmed in platinum catalyst environment with the combustion chamber temperature going up to $650^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Micro igniter on the glass membrane for MEMS thruster was developed. The stability of the micro igniter by using a glass membrane with a thickness of tens of microns was improved. The micro igniter was fabricated by anisotropic wet etching of photosensitive glass and deposition of Pt/Ti for electric heat coil. The solid propellant was loaded into the propellant chamber without an especial technique due to the high structural stability of the glass membrane. Ignition tests were performed successfully. The minimum ignition delay was 27.5 ms with an ignition energy of 19.3 mJ.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.67-70
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• 2006

In this study micro-thrust measurement method in high vacuum chamber is introduced. This is important for the development of micro-thruster for micro-satellite applications. At Chungnam national University, high-vacuum experimental facility has been constructed to simulate space environment. And strain gauge besed micro-thrust measurement in vacuum chamber has been studied and discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.802-808
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• 2014

MEMS based solid propellant thruster researched for the purpose of an academic research will be verified at space environment through CubeSat program. For this, the temperature of the MEMS thruster should be within allowable operating temperature range by proper thermal control to prevent the ignition failure caused by ignition time delay and to guarantee the structural safety of the MEMS thruster in the low temperature. In this study, we proposed an effective thermal control strategy, that is to use micro-igniter as a heater and temperature sensor for active thermal control instead of using additional heater. The effectiveness of the strategy has been verified through on-orbit thermal analysis of CubeSats with MEMS thruster.