Laser ablation characteristics of liquid energetic polymers with micro flow feed system

Abstract

Laser ablation micro propulsion is a novel space propulsion scheme with minimum impulse bit, high specific impulse, less pollution, simple constructer of thruster and less weight compared to other micro propulsion, with great potential application on precise attitude control and orbit control of spacecraft and formation flying of micro satellites. Because of the splashing of the liquid working fluid drastically reducing the efficiency of laser ablation, it is essential to feed the liquid by micro flow approximately 50μg per pulse. Currently the main difficulty is the micro flow feed and ablation of the liquid energetic polymers. A micro flow system, utilizing piezoelectric valve controlled by pulse signal and piston cylinder, was designed and set up to satisfy the requirement of the continuous ignition and ablation of the liquid GAP. The dynamic characteristics of ablation, impulse, plume and splashing were observed and analyzed. The ablation behavior and splashing is detected by shadowgraphy experiments and the impulse bit is measured by torsional pendulum in vacuum. The experiment demonstrates the stability of the feed system, the jam status of the jet after the laser ablation, and the feasibility of the laser ablation propulsion using liquid energetic polymers in engineering application.