Space electric propulsion plasmas

Electric thrusters offer the promise of a substantial improvement in performance over that of conventional chemical rockets currently used in space propulsion applications. There are three basically different ways in which electrical power and propellant inputs might be combined to produce thrust: (1) propellant can be heated electrically and then expanded through a nozzle; (2) electromagnetic body forces can be applied to accelerate a plasma to the desired exhaust velocity; or (3) electrostatic body forces can be applied to accelerate charged particles. Electric thrusters are classified in accordance with the mechanism by which they induce thrust as electrothermal, electromagnetic, and electrostatic. The characteristics of plasmas in electric thrusters along these lines are considered     

Characterization of electrospray beams for micro-spacecraft electric propulsion applications

Electric propulsion for spacecraft offers many advantages compared to other traditional counterparts such as chemical propulsion. An electrostatic colloid thruster, well suited for small spacecrafts due to its inherent small size, is investigated. The underlying phenomena governing the plume, namely collisions and focusing are parameterized. The determining properties of the electrospray-based thruster, such as specific impulse, are measured for several propellants and demonstrated to be higher than cold-gas thrusters even for singly charged droplet mode. Moreover, the interesting concept of a dual colloid system with positively and negatively charged cone-jet beams was shown to be feasible by simulations and experiments.     

Fuel-optimal trajectory design using solar electric propulsion under power constraints and performance degradation

The fuel-optimal transfer trajectories using solar electric propulsion are designed considering the power constraints and solar array performance degradation.Three different performance degradation models including linear,positive and negative exponential degradations are used in the analysis of three typical rendezvous missions including Apophis,Venus and Ceres,respectively.The optimal control problem is formulated using the calculus of variations and Pontryagin’s maximum principle,which leads to a bang-bang control that is solved by indirect method combined with a homotopic technique.In demonstrating the effects of the power constraints and solar array performance degradation on the power budget and fuel consumption,the time histories of the power profile and the fuel consumptions are compared for the three missions.This study indicates that it is necessary to consider the power constraints and solar array performance degradation for the SEP-based low-thrust trajectory design,espacially for long-duration outbound flights.     

激光等离子体微推进技术的研究进展

为了加快激光等离子体微推进技术（μLPP）在航天领域的应用,介绍了该项技术近10年的发展状况。讨论了激光等离子体微推进技术发展过程中衍生出的各种工作模式,并简略分析了不同工作模式的优缺点。着重介绍了靶特性对激光微推进性能的影响,包括靶材的选择、靶的结构、靶材掺杂,以及靶物相特性等。针对该项技术的最终发展目标是研制微小卫星姿轨控的激光等离子体微推力器（μLPT）,介绍并分析了美国Phipps小组开展的激光微推力器的研制工作。最后,指出了激光等离子体微推进技术目前存在的一些问题,并展望了它的发展前景。     

Gradientless propulsion of magnetic bubble domains

We find that some types of magnetic bubbles can be propelled by homogeneous fields: a modulated bias field superimposed on a steady in-plane field. Characteristic velocity vectors are observed which can discriminate among wall configurations having a common winding number s. Two particular complementary bubbles having s = 1 move in opposite directions nearly orthogonal to the in-plane field because the translational coercive force couples to motions of the wall radius and two Bloch lines.     

激光等离子体微推进技术的研究进展

为了加快激光等离子体微推进技术(μLPP)在航天领域的应用,介绍了该项技术近10年的发展状况。讨论了激光等离子体微推进技术发展过程中衍生出的各种工作模式,并简略分析了不同工作模式的优缺点。着重介绍了靶特性对激光微推进性能的影响,包括靶材的选择、靶的结构、靶材掺杂,以及靶物相特性等。针对该项技术的最终发展目标是研制微小卫星姿轨控的激光等离子体微推力器(μLPT),介绍并分析了美国Phipps小组开展的激光微推力器的研制工作。最后,指出了激光等离子体微推进技术目前存在的一些问题,并展望了它的发展前景。     

Electro-hydrodynamic propulsion of counter-rotating Pickering drops

Insulating particles or drops suspended in carrier liquids may start to rotate with a constant frequency when subjected to a uniform DC electric field. This is known as the Quincke rotation electro-hydrodynamic instability. A single isolated rotating particle exhibit no translational motion at low Reynolds number, however interacting rotating particles may move relative to one another. Here we present a simple system consisting of two interacting and deformable Quincke rotating particle covered drops, i.e. deformable Pickering drops. The drops attract one another and spontaneously form a counter-rotating pair that exhibits electro-hydrodynamic driven propulsion at low Reynolds number flow.     

Osmotic propulsion: the osmotic motor

A model for self-propulsion of a colloidal particle--the osmotic motor--immersed in a dispersion of "bath" particles is presented. The nonequilibrium concentration of bath particles induced by a surface chemical reaction creates an osmotic pressure imbalance on the motor causing it to move. The ratio of the speed of reaction to that of diffusion governs the bath particle distribution which is employed to calculate the driving force on the motor, and from which the self-induced osmotic velocity is determined. For slow reactions, the self-propulsion is proportional to the reaction velocity. When surface reaction dominates over diffusion the osmotic velocity cannot exceed the diffusive speed of the bath particles. Implications of these features for different bath particle volume fractions and motor sizes are discussed. Theoretical predictions are compared with Brownian dynamics simulations.