[Zurück]

N. Mühlich, J. Gerger, B. Seifert, F. Aumayr:
"Performance prediction of a new FEEP thruster design verified with direct and indirect thrust measurements";
in: "Proceedings of the 8. Space Propulsion Conference (SP2022)", 8. Space Propulsion Conference (SP2022), Estoril/Portugal, 2022, S. 1 - 6.

Direct and indirect thrust measurements were carried
out simultaneously at a FEEP thruster. The direct
thrust measurements were performed using
FOTEC´s novel mN-thrust balance, which was specially
developed for high-voltage electric propulsion
systems. The indirect thrust measurements are
based on beam properties, analysed with a diagnostics
system consisting of 23 Faraday cups and a
retarding potential analyser. It has been shown that
the simultaneously performed direct and indirect
thrust measurements match perfectly and thus verify
mutually. Furthermore, a verified ion trajectory
simulation model was used to compute the beam
distribution of the FEEP thruster. Due to the good
agreement with the experimental thrust, the simulation
model can be used to predict the thrust of an
arbitrary FEEP thruster geometry. This is particularly
useful when designing a new thruster to match
specific thrust or beam requirements.

Beam diagnostics, direct thrust, Faraday cup, FEEP, indirect thrust, ion trajectory simulation, torsion thrust balance

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_304191.pdf