Development and testing of a new thrust stand for micro-thrust measurement in?vacuum conditions

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• 作者：Anliang Wang^a ; ^{wanganliang@buaa.edu.cn} ; Hongwei Wu^b ; ^{hongwei_wu@buaa.edu.cn} ; ^{h.wu@bham.ac.uk} ; Haibin Tang^a ; Yu Liu^a ; Xing Liang^c
• 关键词：Thrust stand ; Micro-Newton thruster ; Leaf spring ; Colloid thruster ; Vacuum
• 刊名：Vacuum
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：May, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：91
• 期：Complete
• 页码：35-40
• 全文大小：625 K

文摘

A miniature thrust stand in man-made vacuum environment, based on the principle of leaf spring bending deformation, capable of supporting testing of thrusters having a total mass of up to 300?g and producing thrust levels between 1?¦ÌN and 760?¦ÌN has been developed and tested. A case-study measurement was conducted for a Colloid Micro-Newton Thruster (CMNT) to investigate the feasibility of the proposed system under vacuum conditions. Displacement of the leaf spring deforming was measured using a linear capacitive displacement sensor (LCDS). An in situ calibration rig allows for steady-state calibration before, during and after thruster operation. To validate this method, extensive thrust measurements were carried out on a colloid thruster that produces ¦ÌN magnitude level thrust under vacuum conditions. Results show that the measurements were very repeatable, producing results that compare favorably with measured data with an uncertainty of approximately 10 % .