Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters with integrated heaters and temperature measurement

Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters with integrated heaters and temperature measurement

de Athayde Costa e Silva, M. (TU Delft Space Systems Egineering)
Cordeiro Guerrieri, D. (TU Delft Space Systems Egineering)
van Zeijl, H.W. (TU Delft Else Kooi Laboratory)
Cervone, A. (TU Delft Space Systems Egineering)
Gill, E.K.A. (TU Delft Space Engineering)

Else Kooi Laboratory

2017-10-01

This paper presents the results of design, manufacturing and characterization of Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters (VLM) with integrated molybdenum heaters and temperature sensing. The thrusters use water as the propellant and are designed for use in CubeSats and PocketQubes. The devices are manufactured using silicon based MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology and include resistive heaters to vaporize the propellant. The measurements of the heaters’ resistances are used to estimate the temperature in the vaporizing chamber. The manufacturing process is described as well as the characterization of the thrusters’ structural and electrical elements. In total 12 devices with different combinations of heaters and nozzles have been assessed and four of them have been used to demonstrate the successful operation of the thrusters. Results are used to validate the thrusters and show a performance close to the design parameters and comparable to other devices found in the literature.

MEMS
Microresistojet
Microthruster

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8ceb1708-9c6d-4720-8b7b-db9df91dc8db

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2017.07.032

2019-09-15

0924-4247

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical: an international journal devoted to research and development of physical and chemical transducers, 265, 261-274

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2017 M. de Athayde Costa e Silva , D. Cordeiro Guerrieri, H.W. van Zeijl, A. Cervone, E.K.A. Gill