Verification of Contamination Predictions for Monopropellant Thrusters
Abstract
This paper represents the major results and conclusions of an AFRPL in-house analysis program set up to verify the capabilities of the monopropellant option of the CONTAM computer code for predicting plume contamination on sensitive spacecraft surfaces. The data used for verification was acquired in an AFRPL sponsored program at JPL. In that program, quartz crystal microbalance surfaces were used to measure the net deposition rate from the plume of a 0.1 lbf hydrazine thruster operating at vacuum conditions. The CONTAM code was used to model the 0.1 lbf thruster and to calculate the net deposition rates measured in the JPL tests. A comparison of the results indicated that the CONTAM code, while predicting the correct trends, overpredicts the plume mass deposition rates. Possible explanations for this deviation as well as a discussion of future studies to further understand the model's limitations are presented.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1977
- Accession Number
- ADA049048
Entities
People
- Larry P. Davis
- Steven G. Wax