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.

1-kw arcjet-engine system-performance test

Abstract: A 1-kw-d.c. arcjet-engine system (with power conditioning equipment and a cryogenic hydrogen propellant storage unit) was tested at the NASA Lewis Research Center in 1962 at an environmental pressure of 8 X 10 ~ mm of mercury. This radiation-cooled arcjet engine was designed to operate at approximately 1000-sec specific impulse. Current, voltage, propellant flow rate, thrust, chamber pressure, and body temperatures were measured continuously. Engine efficiencies (10-30%) and specific impulses (600-1400 sec) were deduced from the data, but reliability of the thrust measurements was poor. The exhaust plume was photographed with high-speed infrared film and various filters to reveal the size, turning angle, and shape of various wavelength regions. Plume radiation was measured by a radiometer with identical filters to determine the spectral distribution.

Development of a High-Fidelity Thermal/Ablation Response Model for SLA-561V

Abstract: This paper describes the properties and parameters derived and/or developed to model the thermal/ablation response of SLA-561V. The model is based on arcjet data taken in the NASA Ames IHF and AHF arcjet facilities during 2004–2005. As such, this model does not account for potential ablation mechanisms associated with aerodynamic shear, as all of the aforementioned tests were conducted on 4-inch diameter flat-faced cylindrical samples. The model contains two interdependent elements: (1) a thermal response model to predict in-depth temperature response and (2), a surface ablation model to predict surface temperature and surface recession. As will be discussed, these two elements were developed separately and then integrated to comprise the high-fidelity response model (HFRM) for SLA561V. The properties and parameters included in the in-depth model will be described first, followed by a description of the surface ablation model, and, finally, the assumptions required to integrate the two.

Thrust Measurement of the Hybrid Electric Thruster TIHTUS by a Baffle Plate

Abstract: A novel, two-stage, electric thruster is under development at Institut fiir Raumfahrtsysteme at Universitat Stuttgart. The first stage is an arcjet, and the second stage uses inductive heating of the arcjet plume. Because of the complex setup of the thruster, it is impossible to mount the two-stage system on a thrust stand without causing unwanted momentum onto the stand by the numerous supply lines. Thrust is, therefore, inferred using a baffle plate by means of a variation of power- and mass-flow ratios between the two stages. To interpret the results, the present paper also provides radially resolved measurement of total pressure from which thrust can be determined. It is shown that the thrust obtained from the two measurement methods are in good agreement with each other and range between 1.7 and 2.5 N for the respective operating conditions of the thruster. At constant total input power of 50 kW to the thruster, thrust decreases as power is diverted from the first stage to the second (inductive) stage at a constant mass-flow rate. However, when power is applied to both stages, thrust increases as the mass-flow rate is diverted to the second stage at a constant total mass-flow rate of 300 mg/s.

Hybrid electrothermal/electromagnetic arcjet thruster and thrust-producing method

Abstract: A hybrid electrothermal/electromagentic arcjet thruster has a cylindrical body with a longitudinal central axis, a plurality of electro-thermal propulsion mechanisms defined in the body in radially and circumferentially spaced relation about and extending along the central axis, and an electromagnetic propulsion mechanism defined in the body coaxially along the central axis thereof, between the electrothermal propulsion mechanisms and extending downstream thereof. Each electrothermal propulsion mechanism has tandemly-arranged constriction and expansion zones and are operable to concurrently receive a flow of gaseous propellant through the constriction zone and generate an electric arc therethrough to the expansion zone. The arcs interact with the propellant flows such that the latter are partially ionized and electrothermally accelerated through the expansion zones. The electromagnetic propulsion mechanism has an expansion chamber which communicates with, and extends downstream of, the expansion zones. The electromagnetic propulsion mechanism is operable to concurrently receive the flows of electrothermally-accelerated partially-ionized propellant in the expansion chamber and generate a radial current flux and an azimuthal magnetic field which interact with one another and with the flow of propellant such that the latter is electromagnetically accelerated at a higher rate than the electrothermal acceleration thereof.

Multiplexed Laser Induced Fluorescence and Non-Equilibrium Processes in Arcjets.

Abstract: : For the past five years there has been an ongoing experimental and analytical program at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) to improve our understanding of arcjet physics. A computational model that assumed local thermodynamic equilibrium was first used to simulate arcjet thrusters operating on ammonia, hydrogen, and argon. The UTSI arcjet code was later extended to include a two temperature, finite rate kinetic model for hydrogen plasma. Recently, this code has been used to simulate a radiation-cooled arcjet (MARC thruster) experiment and a water-cooled arcjet (TT1 thruster) experiment performed at The Universitat Stuttgart Institut fur Raumfahrtsysteme. The results of these simulations are presented along with a review of UTSI arcjet computation code development. A two-beam multiplexed laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique was developed at UTSI to provide detailed measurements of arcjet flows near the nozzle exit plane. Comparison of detailed flowfield measurements with predictions of the computation model were used to provide insight into the physical models used in the arcjet code. The method was first demonstrated using a small, 300 W, water-cooled arcjet operated with argon propellant. The method was then applied to a 1 kW arcjet operated with hydrogen and nitrogen propellant mixtures using the Balmer alpha line of hydrogen. Recently, the method has been extended to use an excited state line in nitrogen. The results of this most recent research are presented. (MM)