EXPERIMENTAL 1 kW ELECTROTHERMAL ARGON ARCJET

SUMMARY

There are wide range of propulsion systems, from monopropellant to space sailing. The question of which one to choose depends on the mission requirements.

Since the main problem for a space mission is weight ( 40,000 $/kg ), the question of getting the same thrust level with minimum amount of propellant arises. The answer is to give more energy to the propellant than a chemical reaction can give. One solution of this problem is electrical energy while the other one is nuclear energy. The idea of an electrical propulsion system was born in 1906. Nowadays there are several communication satellites which already uses the advantages of electrical propulsion.

Electrical propulsion is most broadly defined as the acceleration of propellants by electrical heating, electrical body forces and/or magnetic body forces. This leads to a natural division of the three forms of electric propulsion (electro-thermal, electro-static, electro-magnetic). Electro-thermal thrusters are the most similar ones to chemical rockets. For this reason the main purpose of this thesis is electro-thermal propulsion.

This thesis consists of three parts. While the first part deals with propulsion systems as a whole, the second part focuses on the electric propulsion. The last part contains information about the experimental 1 kW electrotermal argon arcjet set constructed along with this thesis.

indeks --- önsöz --- türkçe özet --- ingilizce özet --- roketler ---elektrikli roketler --- örnekler