A thrust balance for low power hollow cathode thrusters

作者：Frollani D^*; Coletti M; Gabriel S B

来源：Measurement Science and Technology, 2014, 25(6): 065902.

DOI：10.1088/0957-0233/25/6/065902

• direct measurement
• thrust balance
• hollow cathode
• electric propulsion

A hanging thrust balance has been designed, manufactured and tested at the University of Southampton. The current design allows for direct steady thrust measurements ranging from 0.1 to 3 mN but this can be easily extended to measure thrust in a different range. Moreover the chosen balance design and the thrust measurement procedure allow for the cancellation of thermal drifts. The thrust balance was tested with a T6 hollow cathode thruster providing measurements with an uncertainty of about 9.7%. The thrust data were compared to those obtained with another direct thrust balance and they are in quantitative agreement-the maximum difference being only 6%.

• 出版日期2014-6