Performance Prediction of a Novel Solid-Propellant Microthruster

Abstract

A novel microelectromechanical-systems-based solid-propellant microthruster is developed for stationkeeping, attitude control, drag compensation, and orbit adjust of microspacecraft. Key to the development of the solid-propellant microthruster is the generation of extremely accurate thrust levels and impulse bits. Modeling and simulation can predict the propellant combustion and gas expansion processes inside the microthruster and then derive the microthruster performance. A computational-fluid-dynamics-based model is proposed in this paper to optimize the design by computing the subsonic/supersonic micronozzle flow and calculating the microthruster performance. Wall heat loss and boundary-layer effects, which are especially important for microscale thrusters, are highlighted in the model. Different solid propellants, microthruster geometries, and operating conditions are also evaluated. The computational-fluid-dynamics modeling results are compared with the one-dimensional thermodynamic modeling results and experimental testing data.