Experimental Investigation on Plume Characteristics of PTFE-Filled Carbon, Graphite, Graphene for Laser-Assisted Pulsed Plasma Thruster
Source abstract
Abstract
This paper presents an investigation into the plume characteristics of composite propellants fabricated by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filled with different carbon additives (nano-carbon powder, graphite, and graphene) under laser irradiation in a vacuum environment. The dynamic plumes generated by the laser ablation of different modified propellant samples were captured using a high-speed camera, and the feature parameters of the plumes were extracted by image processing. The results indicated that doping carbon particles in PTFE enhanced the quality of the plasma plumes. The plume area increased up to a certain value and then stabilized, while end of plume clusters remained for a short time. Further analysis revealed that the propellant sample doped with graphene exhibited the maximum plume length and expansion rate, whereas the propellant sample doped with nano-carbon demonstrated the largest plume area. Moreover, a higher graphene doping ratio promoted greater plume length, expansion speed, and plume area. However, when the doping ratio exceeded 3%, the gain of the plume parameters gradually became saturated, and the optimal doping ratio appeared to be 5%.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma · Plasma Diagnostics and Applications · Space Satellite Systems and Control
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Funding
Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
References (37)
Show source-provided references
1. Prospects and Physical Mechanisms for Photonic Space Propulsion10.1038/s41566-018-0280-7 ↗
2. Comparative Study of PTFE Filled Different Dopants as Propellants for Laser-Electric Hybrid Thruster10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.03.018 ↗
3. The Propulsion Mechanism and Tiny Particles Removal Investigation Based on the “Micro-Gun” Propulsion System10.1016/j.optlastec.2019.105627 ↗
4. First Attempt of a Laser Thruster Space Flight Test: Lost at Launch10.1016/j.optlastec.2019.105656 ↗
5. Application and Development of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster10.1088/2058-6272/aba7ac ↗
6. Reviews on Electrical Propulsion Technology Using Iodine Alternatives
7. Molecular Propellants for Ion Thrusters10.1088/1361-6595/ab2c6c ↗
8. Design and Experimental Results of a Laser-Ignited Solid-Propellant-Fed Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster10.1063/5.0006603 ↗
9. Ou, Y., Wu, J., Zhang, Y., Li, J., and Tan, S. (2018). Theoretical Modeling and Parameter Analysis of Micro-Pulsed Plasma Thruster. Energies, 11.10.3390/en11051146 ↗
10. Kamimura, T., and Tahara, H. (2014, January 28). R&D, Launch and Initial Operation of the Osaka Institute of Technology 1st PROITERES Nano-Satellite with Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thrusters and Development of the 2nd and 3rd Satellites. Proceedings of the 50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Cleveland, OH, USA.10.2514/6.2014-3609 ↗
11. REGULUS: A Propulsion Platform to Boost Small Satellite Missions10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.12.022 ↗
12. Portrait of a Dark Horse: A Photometric and Spectroscopic Study of the Ultra-Faint Milky Way Satellite Pegasus III10.3847/0004-637X/833/1/16 ↗
13. Research on Rapid Batch Test of Whole Star Based on Pulsating Production Line10.1088/1742-6596/2252/1/012015 ↗
14. The Technological and Commercial Expansion of Electric Propulsion10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.03.058 ↗
15. Study and Modeling of Propellant Ablation in Coaxial Ablative Pulsed Plasma Thrusters10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.04.010 ↗
16. Characteristics of a Non-Volatile Liquid Propellant in Liquid-Fed Ablative Pulsed Plasma Thrusters10.1063/1.4975349 ↗
17. Ziemer, J., Cubbin, E., Choueiri, E., Birx, D., Ziemer, J., Cubbin, E., Choueiri, E., and Birx, D. (1997, January 6). Performance Characterization of a High Efficiency Gas-Fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster. Proceedings of the 33rd Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Seattle, WA, USA.10.2514/6.1997-2925 ↗
18. A Brief Review of Alternative Propellants and Requirements for Pulsed Plasma Thrusters in Micropropulsion Applications10.1016/j.cja.2020.03.024 ↗
19. The Ablation Characteristics of Laser-Assisted Pulsed Plasma Thruster with Metal Propellant10.1088/2058-6272/ac10ff ↗
20. Brief Review on Pulse Laser Propulsion10.1016/j.optlastec.2017.09.052 ↗
21. Modeling the Laser-Polymer Interaction of Laser Propulsion Systems Considering Progressive Surface Removal, Thermal Decomposition and Non-Fourier Effect10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.05.042 ↗
22. Comparative Study of Plume Characteristics of Polymeric Propellants Filled with Different Oxides for Laser-Electric Hybrid Thruster10.1016/j.optlastec.2021.107609 ↗
23. Experimental Investigation on Characteristics of Pulsed Plasma Thrusters with the Propellant Samples of Modified PTFE Filled Si, Al and Al2O310.1016/j.vacuum.2019.04.027 ↗
24. Actualization of an Efficient Throttleable Laser Propulsion Mode10.1016/j.energy.2021.119870 ↗
25. Experimental Study of Reaction Properties of Aluminum/Polytetrafluoroethylene Powder under Laser Ablation10.1063/5.0059253 ↗
26. Ablation of Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) with Femtosecond UV Excimer Laser Pulses10.1063/1.100831 ↗
27. Determination of Laser Ablation Threshold of Teflon at Different Harmonics of Nd:YAG Laser Using Photothermal Deflection Technique10.1023/A:1004567301546 ↗
28. Zhang, Y. (2018). Theoretical and Experimental Investigation on the Property of Propellant Ablation and Propulsion Performance of Laser Ablation Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster. [Ph.D. Thesis, National University of Defense Technology].
29. A Study on the Plasma Plume Expansion Dynamics of Nanosecond Laser Ablating Al/PTFE10.3390/en13133321 ↗
30. Impulse and Electric Charge Characteristics of Chemical Propellant under Pulsed Laser Irradiation10.1016/j.vacuum.2021.110419 ↗
31. Plume Characteristics of Polymeric Material Doped with Different Metal Particles under Pulsed Laser Irradiation10.1016/j.optlastec.2022.108132 ↗
32. Effects of Carbon, Graphite, and Graphene as Propellant Dopants in a Laser-Electric Hybrid Acceleration System10.1016/j.optlastec.2022.108007 ↗
33. Delrin® for Propulsion with CO2 Laser: Carbon Doping Effects10.1063/1.2931896 ↗
34. Binary Solid Propellants for Constant Momentum Missions10.1063/1.2931897 ↗
35. A Photographic Method for In-Orbit Measurement of Electron Temperature Distribution in the Plume of Hall Thrusters10.1088/1361-6595/aad4cd ↗
36. High-Resolution Particle Density Measurement for Argon Plasma Plume by Image Reconstruction and Collisional-Radiative Model10.1016/j.optlastec.2023.109544 ↗
37. Effects of Ambient Pressure and Laser Fluence on the Temporal Evolution of 426.7 Nm CII Line in Laser-Blow-off of Multilayered LiF-C Thin Film10.1088/0022-3727/39/22/018 ↗