COMPARISON OF THERMAL ANALYTIC MODEL WITH EXPERIMENTAL TEST RESULTS FOR 30-CENTIMETER-DIAMETER ENGINEERING MODEL MERCURY ION THRUSTER

摘要

A thermal analytic model for a 30-cm engineering model mercury-ion thruster was developed and calibrated using the experimental test results of tests of a pre-engineering model 30-cm thruster. A series of tests, performed later, simulated a wide range of thermal environments on an operating 30-cm engineering model thruster, which was instrumented to measure the temperature distribution within it. As a result, both the analytic model and the thruster self-heating distribution presented in a previous report have been modified. This report describes the modified analytic model and compares analytic and experimental results for various oper¬ating conditions. Based on the comparisons, it is concluded that the analytic model can be used as a preliminary design tool to predict thruster steady-state temperature distributions for stage and mission studies and to define the thermal interfaces between the thruster and other elements of a spacecraft.