Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Thrust enhancement via gel-type liquid confinement of laser ablation of solid metal propellant

Thrust enhancement via gel-type liquid confinement of laser ablation of solid metal propellant Laser propulsion has been developed as a suitable small thruster technology for the attitude control of micro and nano class satellites. Laser-based thrusters meet the satellite design criteria for being of light weight and cost effective, because they do not require fuel storing and oxidizer for combustion. Also, thrust control by laser propulsion is achieved fairly easy. In this paper, we consider the confinement of plasma expansion by a gel-type liquid material, which results in the enhancement of the thrust for propulsion. We also present our attempts to resolve some known issues regarding laser ablation of solid and liquid targets. The level of thrust is quantified via the momentum coupling coefficient, which was experimentally measured using a ballistic pendulum system. We have discovered that the laser ablation confinement by the gel-type medium results in 2.3 times more enhanced driving force as compared to the water confinement. A proof of performance is demonstrated for using gel-type material for generating propulsion, and material characterization for optimal thrust performance is presented. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Applied Physics A: Materials Science Processing Springer Journals

Thrust enhancement via gel-type liquid confinement of laser ablation of solid metal propellant

Download PDF
5 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/thrust-enhancement-via-gel-type-liquid-confinement-of-laser-ablation-4t9lVlZqob

References (17)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by Springer-Verlag
Subject
Physics; Operating Procedures, Materials Treatment; Surfaces and Interfaces, Thin Films; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; Condensed Matter Physics
ISSN
0947-8396
eISSN
1432-0630
DOI
10.1007/s00339-009-5437-2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Laser propulsion has been developed as a suitable small thruster technology for the attitude control of micro and nano class satellites. Laser-based thrusters meet the satellite design criteria for being of light weight and cost effective, because they do not require fuel storing and oxidizer for combustion. Also, thrust control by laser propulsion is achieved fairly easy. In this paper, we consider the confinement of plasma expansion by a gel-type liquid material, which results in the enhancement of the thrust for propulsion. We also present our attempts to resolve some known issues regarding laser ablation of solid and liquid targets. The level of thrust is quantified via the momentum coupling coefficient, which was experimentally measured using a ballistic pendulum system. We have discovered that the laser ablation confinement by the gel-type medium results in 2.3 times more enhanced driving force as compared to the water confinement. A proof of performance is demonstrated for using gel-type material for generating propulsion, and material characterization for optimal thrust performance is presented.

Journal

Applied Physics A: Materials Science Processing – Springer Journals

Published: Oct 10, 2009

There are no references for this article.