RESISTANCE-HEATED THRUSTOR RESEARCH.
Abstract
The analytical and experimental research program on three resistance-heated thrustors at power levels of 1, 6, and 30 KW is described. Hydrogen was used as the propellant for most of the experiments. Several tests with ammonia were made for comparative purposes. Although DC input power has been used almost exclusively, a few tests were conducted with AC power input. The 30 KW thrustor was the basic experimental model during the tests, and for this reason its final design optimization shows the best results. The 6 and 1 KW models still require further development to reach the same performance level as the larger unit. It is known, however, that technical difficulties increase with reduction of size. The energy lost through radiation has been found to be one of the major losses, so that during the initial part of the work particular emphasis was made toward their reduction. A description of the methods used, the difficulties encountered and the results obtained are reported. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0469203
Entities
People
- Adriano C. Ducati