• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.496-501
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• 2009

The thruster head unit of a 300 W cylindrical Hall thruster was developed for the propulsion system of small satellites. The magnetic topology in the thruster channel is a key parameter to achieve high performances. Two types of magnetic circuit structures were designed and manufactured to compare the thrust levels and efficiencies. Also the endurance test was conducted to measure the stable operation duration of the thruster head and to find degree of erosion after extended operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.262-270
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• 2004

Basic experiments were carried out using the THT-IV low-power Hall thruster to examine the influences of magnetic field shape and strength, and acceleration channel length on thruster performance and to establish guidelines for design of high-performance Hall thrusters. Thrusts were measured with varying magnetic field and channel structure. Exhaust plasma diagnostic measurement was also made to evaluate plume divergent angles and voltage utilization efficiencies. Ion current spatial profiles were measured with a Faraday cup, and ion energy distribution functions were estimated from data with a retarding potential analyzer. The thruster was stably operated with a highest performance under an optimum acceleration channel length of 20 mm and an optimum magnetic field with a maximum strength of about 150 Gauss near the channel exit and with some shape considering ion acceleration directions. Accordingly, an optimum magnetic field and channel structure is considered to exist under an operational condition, related to inner physical phenomena of plasma production, ion acceleration and exhaust plasma feature. A new Hall thruster was designed with basic research data of the THT-IV thruster. With the thruster with many considerations, long stable operations were achieved. In all experiments at 200-400 V with 1.5-3 mg/s, the thrust and the specific impulse ranged from 15 to 70 mN and from 1100 to 2300 see, respectively, in a low electric power range of 300~1300 W. The thrust efficiency reached 55 %. Hence, a large map of the thruster performance was successfully made. The thermal characteristics were also examined with data of both measured and calculated temperatures in the thruster body. Thermally safe conditions were achieved with all input powers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2013.04a
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• pp.555-558
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• 2013

A type of electric propulsion employed by specialized purpose vessels or offshore is the azimuth thruster. Azimuth thruster application had been increasing recently and resulted to excellent vessel maneuverability. However, this system is very complex and some of its major component being exposed under the seawater level presents difficulty in sealing design. For Polar class icebreaker operating in extreme sea condition, this requires a high level of reliability and safety. In this study, the characteristics of lubricating orifice pipe structural vibration installed at the lower reduction gear were investigated and analyzed through beam analysis theory and comparison of experiments. Propeller excitation and the resonant modes of vibration causing excessive vibration and suitable countermeasures to prevent damage due to vibration fatigue on the pipe are presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.257-261
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• 2004

Computational fluid dynamics analysis was carried out for thermo-chemical flow field in Arcjet thruster with mono-propellant Hydrazine ($N_2$H$_4$) as a working fluid. The theoretical formulation is based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations for compressible flows with thermal radiation. The electric potential field governed by Maxwell equation is loosely coupled with the fluid dynamics equations through the Ohm heating and Lorentz force. Chemical reactions were assumed being infinitely fast due to the high temperature field inside the arcjet thruster. An equilibrium chemistry module for nitrogen-hydrogen mixture and a thermal radiation module for optically thin media were incorporated with the fluid dynamics code. Thermo-physical process inside the arcjet thruster was understood from the flow field results and the performance prediction shows that the thrust force is increased by amount of 3 times with 0.6KW arc heating.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.36-52
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• 2021

As the application of nano-satellites constellation increases worldwide in the wake of New Space era, there is growing demand for the development of thrusters for precise attitude and orbit control of small satellites. Field Emission Electric Propulsion(FEEP) thruster uses a liquid metal as a propellant and accelerates the ionized liquid metal through a strong electric field at the tip of the metal surface. FEEP thruster technology is suitable for nano-satellites which require various missions for attitude and orbit control, because it provides thrust ranging from 1 µN to 1 mN with high specific impulse up to about 10,000 s and can be miniaturized due to its simple structure. In this paper, the basics of FEEP thrusters are introduced, then the current status of research and development of FEEP thrusters are presented.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.216-223
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• 2024

Electric propulsion systems, including electrothermal, electrostatic, and electromagnetic thrusters, are promising systems for producing thrust from satellites. These systems generally operate under vacuum plasma conditions and exhibit high specific impulses and thrust-to-weight ratios. Despite their high efficiencies, electric propulsion systems are susceptible to performance variations due to physical factors such as plasma instabilities, which require an accurate diagnosis of their status during operation. In this study, we review various measurement systems adopted to diagnose electric propulsion systems operating under vacuum conditions. Specifically, we review electrical, optical, and other methods that can directly or indirectly measure the status of a thruster, with a particular focus on Hall effect thrusters. The system configurations and fundamental mechanisms of the different measurement systems are described based on case studies of the diagnosis of propulsion systems. We anticipate that this study will contribute to the efficient development and safe operation of electric propulsion systems for use in artificial satellites.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2002

Recently, the application of the electric propulsion system becomes popular because of its advantage over conventional propulsion. However, the complicated flow mechanism and interaction around the azimuth thruster are not fully understood yet, and the studies on the powering performance characteristics with azimuth/pod thrusters are now in progress. The experimental method developed in KRISO(Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering) is introduced and the results of the powering performance tests, consisting of resistance, self-propulsion and propeller open water tests for a cable layer with two azimuth thrusters are presented. For the analysis of powering performance with azimuth thrusters, it is necessary to evaluate the thrust/drag for components of a thruster unit, Extrapolation results could differ according to the various definitions of the propulsion unit; that is the pod, thruster leg and/or nozzle can be treated as hull appendages or as part of propulsion unit, The powering performances based on several definitions are investigated for this vessel. The results of the measurements for the 3-dimensional velocity distribution on the propeller plane are presented to understand the basis of the difference in propulsion characteristics due to the propeller rotational directions.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.10a
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• pp.232-237
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• 1994

An extended study of optimal thruster combination for simultaneous attitude and orbital maneuvers of a jet-controled spacecraft is conducted. In this case, the spacecraft has not enough number of thrusters to control the rotation and translation separately. Therefore, thrusters are employed by combining to eliminate their coupling effects. The combinations are determined to minimize the fuel consumption. The redundancy study for some thruster failure cases is also presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.245-250
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• 2004

The discharge current oscillation has been measured for various hollow anode widths and its axial positions using a 1㎾-class anode layer hall thruster. As a result, there were thresholds of magnetic flux density for stable discharge. The plasma structure inside the hollow anode was numerically analyzed using the fully kinetic 2D3V Particle-in-Cell (PIC) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) methods. The results reproduced both stable and unstable operation modes. In the stable operation case, which corresponds to the case with low magnetic flux, the plasma penetrated into the hollow anode deeper than the case with higher magnetic flux density case. This suggests that comparably large substantial anode area should contribute to stable operation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1115-1120
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• 2007

This paper presents a novel mechanism of electro-spray micro-thruster featured by a nozzle with a conductive pole inside, referred to here as a pole type nozzle. And the effects of the pole type nozzle on the efficiency of the jetting are numerically and experimentally investigated. The electric voltage signal applied to the upper electrode plate, against the pole as the ground, allows a ejection of spray to take place. It is verified experimentally that the use of the pole type nozzle allows a stable and sustainable jetting mode of ejection for a wider range of applied voltages because it can concentrate the electric field more on the centre of the meniscus. According to results about size effect, experiments indicates that the proposed mechanism allows that operation of micro thruster at less than 500 volts through nanoscale nozzle.