A tubular vaporizing liquid micro-thruster with induction heating

Abstract

This paper presents a study of a new tubular vaporizing liquid micro-thruster (VLM) with induction heating. The developed micro-thruster consists of a micro-heater core, an excitation coil, a vaporizing chamber, a nozzle and a micro-channel, all integrated in a glass tube with a dimension of 3 mm (outer diameter) × 18 mm (length). The temperature of the micro-heater core is tested with experiments and an optimal AC frequency is selected for the VLM based on the experimental tests. Vaporization of water-propellant feeding with different flow rates range of 0.1 ml/min − 0.3 ml/min is demonstrated. A maximum thrust force of 680 μN at 0.3 ml/min propellant consumption rate is realized measured with a pendulum thrust stand. Comparing with other VLMs, one merit of the new VLM is that there is no physical connection between the micro-heater core and the power supply. Other merits of the new VLM proposed by this paper is that it can work with a larger input power, provide more heat energy and generate a relative larger thrust force.