Design and Testing of a Hydrogen Peroxide Microelectromechanical Systems Thruster

Abstract

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques were used to build miniature thrusters from a silicon wafer, drastically reducing the size and volume from conventional techniques. These thrusters incorporate a catalyst within the wafer and are therefore reusable. This project was the first known effort to develop catalytic MEMS thrusters. 85-90% hydrogen peroxide was studied and used as a monopropellant in the thruster design due to its safety advantages over other propellants and the renewed interest in the scientific community. This research effort formulated concepts, performed analysis, and developed fabrication techniques to construct and test a prototype thruster in order to develop the proof-of-concept fundamentals needed for a MEMS monopropellant thruster.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 20, 2000
Accession Number
ADA393584

Entities

People

  • Michael A Thomas

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Ceramic Materials
  • Chemical Elements
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Material Degradation Processes
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Three Dimensional

Readers

  • Nanofabrication and Microfabrication.
  • Rocket Propulsion.
  • Software Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster