The Role of Electrostatic Forces in the Generation of Ion Propulsion

Tomas A. Pribanic^1, and Xiangyang Zhou¹

¹College of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, 33124, United States of America

Cite this paper:
Tomas A. Pribanic and Xiangyang Zhou. The Role of Electrostatic Forces in the Generation of Ion Propulsion. American Journal of Mechanical Engineering. 2022; 10(1):1-8. doi: 10.12691/ajme-10-1-1

Abstract

This document presents a study on the contribution of the electrostatic force in the generation of thrust using an asymmetric electrodes configuration subjected to a high potential differential. The study uses computational models to provide an optimized configuration which generates 296.99% higher levels of electrostatic force when compared to a baseline configuration. Experimental testing of a system having comparable geometries and potential differentials to the computational models are conducted. The computational models are then compared to empirical results from the experimental tests. Results show a decreased in thrust with an increase of electrostatic force down to 61.58%. The discrepancy between the computational and experimental results is investigated by conducting a third experiment having an experimental set-up with multiple independent structural supports. The use of multiple independent supports shows and increase of internal forces of 69.23%. It is then concluded that the optimized experimental set-up increases the electrostatic repulsive forces between electrodes having common electric charges, but it does not translate into an increase in thrust. Instead, the increase in electrostatic force using the electrodes configurations used in this study shows a deleterious effect in thrust levels generated using an asymmetric capacitor configuration.

Keywords:
electrohydrodynamic propulsion electric propulsion ion thruster asymmetric electrodes

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