Arcjet rocket

About: Arcjet rocket is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1121 publications have been published within this topic receiving 9687 citations. The topic is also known as: Arcjet.

Low-power ammonia arcjet : numerical simulations and laser-induced fluorescence measurements

Abstract: Numerical simulations were performed for a 1-kW ammonia arcjet using the University of Tennessee Space Institute equilibrium arcjet computational code. Thrust predicted by the code was compared with experimental data obtained from a thrust stand, and calculations of exit plane flow conditions were compared with data obtained from multiplexed laser induced fluorescence (LIF) experiments. The code predictions for thrust follow the same trends as the experimentally measured values, but they significantly overpredict the absolute values. Multiplexed LIF experiments were performed using both atomic nitrogen and atomic hydrogen in the plume. When nitrogen is used the effects of scattering can be significantly reduced by spectral discrimination of the fluorescence. The experiments reveal that the two species have different velocities at a position 1 mm downstream from the nozzle exit plane. The code predictions of the velocity at the exit plane have been compared with the LIF experiments. These comparisons were not conclusive because the propellant velocity can change significantly between the exit plane, where the code predictions are made, and 1 mm downstream, where the LIF measurements are made. The discrepancy between these code predictions and the experimental results highlight the inadequacy of equilibrium computational codes to accurately simulate arcjet flows.

Plasma accelerator activities at the IRS

Abstract: Orlando, Florida, USA, July 1990 Plasma Accelerator Activities at the IRS Monika Auweter-Kurtz and Ernst W. Messerschmid Institut fiir Raumfahrtsysteme Universitat Stuttgart Since the early eighties the development of plasma accelerators has been an important research topic at the IRS. A broad spectrum of plasma thrusters has been investigated experimentally as well as theoretically. The main emphasis has been the development of both plasma thrusters and plasma sources for wind tunnel applications. High power MPD thrusters (50 kW 1 MW) and a broad spectrum of thermal arcjets (1 kW 100 kW) are developed under contracts with ESA, NASA, USAF, USNAVY and with German funding. In addition to the available test stands for thruster research and development, two plasma wind tunnels have been built up under contracts with CNES and BMFT for erosion tests of heat protection materials for reentry vehicles, such as the European space plane HERMES, and for plasma diagnostic development. The IRS has excellent facilities for continuous tests of high power accelerators. The high current power supply is a current regulated D.C. thyristor rectifier of 6 MW. The vacuum system is a roots pump system consisting of four stages with a total suction power of about 200 000 m3/h at 1 Pa. Eight vacuum tanks of different sizes are connected to this system and several additional independent test facilities are used for low power arcjet development and basic cathode erosion experiments. A computer station with microvax computers is available for numerical investigations of the plasma flow for thruster and plasma wind tunnel application. These IRS-computers are connected to the computer center ofthe University of Stuttgart, which is equipped with various main frame computers including a CRAY-2.