Thruster modeling and control is the core of underwater vehicle control and simulation, because it is the lowest control loop of the system; hence, the system would benefit from accurate and practical modeling of the thrusters. In unmanned underwater vehicles, thrusters are generally propellers driven by electrical motors. Therefore, thrust force is simultaneously affected by motor model, prope...

The current statuses of lifetime test of LaB6 hollow cathode at the Lanzhou Institute of Physics (LIP), China, was described. 5A LaB6 hollow cathode was design for LIPS-200 40mN Xenon ion thruster, and it could be used for LHT-100 80 mN Hall thruster, too. Life test of the discharge and neutralizer modes of LHC-5 hollow cathode were stared in October 2011, and cumulative operation time reached ...

Of primary concern with the integration of Hall thrusters on conventional satellite designs is the possible damaging effect of high-energy exhaust ions impinging upon spacecraft surfaces. This paper reports on measurements of plasma ion energy distributions within the plume of an SPT-100 Hall thruster using a custom-designed molecular beam mass spectrometer. With this instrument ion energy was ...

The FEEP thruster development is carried out by Centrospazio under ESA and ASI funding. This activity aims at two application areas for which FEEP is unique, or presents substantial advantages with respect to other propulsion technologies: drag-free scientific missions and small satellites attitude control and orbit maintenance. Typical thrust ranges involved are 1 to 100 μN for dragfree contro...

The purpose of this study is to meet the maneuverability requirements Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) in different conditions by effective use bow and stern thruster, thus completing automatic berthing task. Based on MMG model, mathematical model USV with thruster was established. And motion simulation maneuvering carried out through numerical calculation. Then plan designed basedon analysis low...

The Hall thruster is an electric propulsion device used for multiple in-space applications including orbit raising, on-orbit maneuvers, and de-orbit functions. These in-space propulsion functions are currently performed by toxic hydrazine monopropellant or hydrazine derivative/nitrogen tetroxide bi-propellant thrusters. The Hall thruster operates nominally in the 1500 s specific impulse regime....

Of primary concern with the integration of Hall thrusters on conventional satellite designs is the possible damaging effect of high-energy exhaust ions impinging upon spacecraft surfaces. This paper reports on measurements of plasma ion-energy distributions within the plume of an SPT-100 Hall thruster using a custom-designed molecular beam mass spectrometer. With this instrument ion energy was ...

The mechanism of operation of a new thruster concept that utilizes solid-state ionic membranes to convert molecules into ions and transmit them to a surface from which they can be extracted into energetic beamlets thereby producing thrust is described. Results of recent experiments are used to estimate the performance of the thruster and the masses of various components required for it to perfo...

A hybrid particle-fluid method is applied to model the plasma plume from a Hall thruster operated in the 12V vacuum chamber at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). The method uses the direct simulation Monte Carlo method and Particle In Cell method to simulate the xenon atoms and ions. A fluid electron model is employed that is based on the Boltzmann relation. The complex geometric...

The plasma plume generated by the cathode of a 6-kW laboratory Hall thruster is modeled using a hybrid particle-fluid method. The approach utilizes the direct simulation Monte Carlo method to simulate the collision dynamics of heavy particles, the particle-in-cell method to model the transport of heavy species including the effects of electrostatic fields on the ions, and a “fluid” method that ...