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

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.138-143
• /
• 2017

A performance analysis for a pulsed plasma thruster(PPT) has been conducted to predict the thrust and current change. Two models were implemented - a one-dimensional lumped circuit analysis model and the Teflon ablation model provided by Michael Keidar. The circuit model incorporating resistance and inductance models was adapted to predict the magnitude of the discharge current. Numerical simulations like current discharge rates with different voltages were reasonably well compared with experimental data. The effects of Teflon ablation on thruster characteristics were investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2006

The PPT being currently developed for the flight model represents a significant leap in techniques and technology compared to the previous flight ones. The electrical energy to be charged in the pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) is a very important aspect to provide an uniform impulse bit ,, and a specific impulse ,, for satellite attitude control. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear control technique and a stability analysis based on the Lyapunov function for the pulsed plasma thruster. Specifically, the proposed control law guarantees to charge and discharge the electrical energy generated from the power processing unit (PPU) within the specified time.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.352-355
• /
• 2005

This paper describes an engineering model development of a pulsed plasma thruster, which is capable of an impulse bit of 20uNs and a specific impulse of 800s. The solid fuel which is Teflon allows for a self-contained, inert and stable propellant system. And, the PPT technology makes it possible to consider a revolutionary attitude control system (ACS) concept providing stabilization and pointing accuracies previously obtainable only with reaction wheels, with reduced mass and power requirements.

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

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.8
• /
• pp.611-620
• /
• 2020

The effect of discharge voltage on electron mean energy, electric potential, ionization rate, neutral and ion density of Hall thruster was analyzed using a two-dimensional axisymmetric hybrid model. The results of the code developed for this study such as discharge current, thrust, and plasma distribution according to discharge voltage of SPT-100ML Hall thruster were compared by experiments and calculations of other researchers for validation. The results show that the electron mean energy, the ionization rate, and the ion density are increased while the neutral density is decreased as the discharge voltage is increased. The thrust and the discharge current are proportional to the discharge voltage.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.8
• /
• pp.697-703
• /
• 2017

A teflon ionization modeling has been conducted to predict the performance of a PPT(Pulsed Plasma Thruster). One dimensional unsteady circuit model and Teflon ablation model were implemented. The Saha equation was adapted to predict the ionization of Carbon and Fluorine gas. The lumped circuit model including a resistance and a inductance model of a plasma was adapted to predict the magnitude of a discharge current. Numerical simulation results had good agreements with pervious research. The degree of current change according to PPT operating voltage was examined.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
• /
• 2007.10a
• /
• pp.139-143
• /
• 2007

Electric propulsion has become a cost effective and sound engineering solution for many space applications. The success of SMART-1 and MUSES-C developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) each proved that even small spacecraft could accomplish planetary mission with electric propulsion systems. A small electric propulsion system which is Hall effect thruster like SMART-1 is under development by SaTReC and GDPL (Glow Discharge Plasma Lab.) in KAIST for the next microsatellite, STSAT-3. To achieve optimized propulsion system, it is very necessary to understand plasma motions of Hall effect thruster. In this paper, we try to approach comprehensive plasma model with the particle simulation complementary to Particle In Cell (PIC) simulation. We think these two different approaches will help experimenters to optimize Hall effect thruster performances.

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

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
• /
• 2011.11a
• /
• pp.540-543
• /
• 2011

This work is devoted to an experimental investigation on conceptual design of dual consecutive stage micro plasma thruster (${\mu}PT$). Optimization study on the thruster configuration has been performed for various electrode gap distances from 1 mm to 2 mm and the hole diameter from 0.3 mm to 2 mm depending on desired operating conditions and corresponding nozzle design requirement. The operation of ${\mu}PT$ at low pressure from $10^{-1}$ Torr to $10^{-4}$ Torr and at various argon flow rates ranging from 5 sccm to 300 sccm has been studied to understand the physic of plasma and the gas dynamics in details. The specific impulse can reach up to 3000-4000 seconds at low power consumptions from 1 to 5 W. Image of exhaust plume from ${\mu}PT$ will be provided and electrical characteristics is also mentioned in this paper.