Dual-axis thrust stand for the direct characterization of electrospray performance.

A dual-axis torsional thrust stand was successfully demonstrated at the Air Force Research Laboratory, enabling direct simultaneous thrust and mass loss measurement for the Air Force Electrospray Thruster Series 2 passively fed electrospray thruster. The dual-axis system is effectively two nulled torsional thrust stands sharing a single dual-axis gimbal with a thrust and mass resolution of ±0.2 µN and ±0.04 mg, respectively. The development of this system was inspired by a need for direct efficiency characterization of electrosprays via in situ mass measurements, and performance was compared to thruster masses measured pre- and post-testing using an analytical balance. Mass consumption data captured via the dual-axis stand, which is calibrated to a traceable uncertainty of 1.6%, varied between -5% and 18% as compared to analytical balance measurements throughout a multi-month testing effort highlighting the limitations in pre/post-weighing as a method for capturing propellant consumption due to absorption of atmospheric moisture when thrusters are removed from vacuum. Thrust stand tests were limited to short term operation with a daily available testing window of ∼5 h due to thrust stand drift following the 24 h cyclic temperature variations of the testing facility. A thorough investigation into the root cause of ambient thermal drift suggests that the thermal response of commercial flex-pivot bearings is directly producing spurious torques on the order of 10 µN m/°C. Additionally, unresolved charging effects on thrust stand hardware currently limit thrust stand operation to tests operating with a positive thruster polarity. Further development and long duration test stability require both a targeted investigation into flex-pivot thermal response and minimization of facility effects.

Comparison of electrostatic fins with piezoelectric impact hammer techniques to extend impulse calibration range of a torsional thrust stand.

With the progression of high-power electric propulsion and high thrust-to-power propulsions system, thrust stand diagnostics require high-fidelity calibration systems that are accurate over a large-range of thrust levels. Multi-mode and variable I(sp) propulsion devices also require that a single stand be capable of measuring thrust from 10's of uNs to 100's of mNs. While the torsional thrust stand mechanic and diagnostics are capable of operating over such a large range, current pulsed calibration schemes are typically limited to a few orders of magnitude of dynamic range. In order to develop a stand with enough dynamic range, two separate calibration methods have been examined and compared to create a combined system. Electrostatic fin (ESF) and piezoelectric impact hammer (PIH) calibration systems were simultaneously tested on a large scale torsional thrust stand system. The use of the these two methods allowed the stand to be calibrated over four orders of magnitude, from 0.01 mNs to 750 mNs. The ESF system produced linear results within 0.52% from 0.01 mNs to 20 mNs, while the PIH system extended this calibration range from 10 mNs to 750 mNs with an error of 0.99%. The two calibration methods agreed within 4.51% over their overlapping range of 10-20 mNs.