Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility

Abstract Electric space propulsion thrusters only produce low thrust forces. For the fulfillment of a space mission this implies long thruster runtimes, and this entails long qualification times on ground. For such long testing times, a ground facility requires a vacuum chamber and a powerful pumpin...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Andreas Neumann, Jens Simon, Jens Schmidt
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Electric space propulsion Vacuum chamber Test facility Thrust balance Physics QC1-999 Optics. Light QC350-467 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ae0e0e52c21c4dcfa967bf5ec9e6dd37
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:ae0e0e52c21c4dcfa967bf5ec9e6dd37
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ae0e0e52c21c4dcfa967bf5ec9e6dd372021-11-28T12:04:12ZThrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility10.1140/epjti/s40485-021-00074-72195-7045https://doaj.org/article/ae0e0e52c21c4dcfa967bf5ec9e6dd372021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1140/epjti/s40485-021-00074-7https://doaj.org/toc/2195-7045Abstract Electric space propulsion thrusters only produce low thrust forces. For the fulfillment of a space mission this implies long thruster runtimes, and this entails long qualification times on ground. For such long testing times, a ground facility requires a vacuum chamber and a powerful pumping system which can guarantee high vacuum over extended times and under thruster gas load. DLR’s STG-ET is such a ground test facility. It has a high pumping capability for the noble gases typically used as propellants. One basic diagnostic tool is a thrust measurement device, among various other diagnostic systems required for electric propulsion testing, e.g. beam diagnostics. At DLR we operate a thrust balance developed by the company AST with a thrust measurement range of 250 mN and capable of thruster weights up to 40 kg. Adversely, it is a bulky and heavy device and all upgrades and qualification work needs to be done in a large vacuum chamber. In order to have a smaller device at hand a second thrust stand is under development at DLR. The idea is to have a light and compact balance that could also be placed in one of the smaller DLR vacuum chambers. Furthermore, the calibration is more robust and the whole device is equipped with a watercooled housing. First tests are promising and showed a resolution well below 1 mN. In this paper we give background information about the chamber, describe the basics of thrust measurement and the development of a new balance.Andreas NeumannJens SimonJens SchmidtSpringerOpenarticleElectric space propulsionVacuum chamberTest facilityThrust balancePhysicsQC1-999Optics. LightQC350-467Descriptive and experimental mechanicsQC120-168.85ENEPJ Techniques and Instrumentation, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-19 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Electric space propulsion Vacuum chamber Test facility Thrust balance Physics QC1-999 Optics. Light QC350-467 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85
spellingShingle	Electric space propulsion Vacuum chamber Test facility Thrust balance Physics QC1-999 Optics. Light QC350-467 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85 Andreas Neumann Jens Simon Jens Schmidt Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
description	Abstract Electric space propulsion thrusters only produce low thrust forces. For the fulfillment of a space mission this implies long thruster runtimes, and this entails long qualification times on ground. For such long testing times, a ground facility requires a vacuum chamber and a powerful pumping system which can guarantee high vacuum over extended times and under thruster gas load. DLR’s STG-ET is such a ground test facility. It has a high pumping capability for the noble gases typically used as propellants. One basic diagnostic tool is a thrust measurement device, among various other diagnostic systems required for electric propulsion testing, e.g. beam diagnostics. At DLR we operate a thrust balance developed by the company AST with a thrust measurement range of 250 mN and capable of thruster weights up to 40 kg. Adversely, it is a bulky and heavy device and all upgrades and qualification work needs to be done in a large vacuum chamber. In order to have a smaller device at hand a second thrust stand is under development at DLR. The idea is to have a light and compact balance that could also be placed in one of the smaller DLR vacuum chambers. Furthermore, the calibration is more robust and the whole device is equipped with a watercooled housing. First tests are promising and showed a resolution well below 1 mN. In this paper we give background information about the chamber, describe the basics of thrust measurement and the development of a new balance.
format	article
author	Andreas Neumann Jens Simon Jens Schmidt
author_facet	Andreas Neumann Jens Simon Jens Schmidt
author_sort	Andreas Neumann
title	Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
title_short	Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
title_full	Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
title_fullStr	Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
title_full_unstemmed	Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility
title_sort	thrust measurement and thrust balance development at dlr’s electric propulsion test facility
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/ae0e0e52c21c4dcfa967bf5ec9e6dd37
work_keys_str_mv	AT andreasneumann thrustmeasurementandthrustbalancedevelopmentatdlrselectricpropulsiontestfacility AT jenssimon thrustmeasurementandthrustbalancedevelopmentatdlrselectricpropulsiontestfacility AT jensschmidt thrustmeasurementandthrustbalancedevelopmentatdlrselectricpropulsiontestfacility
_version_	1718408219206877184

Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility

Ejemplares similares