TY - JOUR
T1 - Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters with integrated heaters and temperature measurement
AU - Silva, Marsil A.C.
AU - Cordeiro Guerrieri, D.
AU - van Zeijl, Henk
AU - Cervone, Angelo
AU - Gill, Eberhard
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - This paper presents the results of design, manufacturing and characterization of Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters (VLM) with integrated molybdenum heaters and temperature sensing. The thrusters use water as the propellant and are designed for use in CubeSats and PocketQubes. The devices are manufactured using silicon based MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology and include resistive heaters to vaporize the propellant. The measurements of the heaters’ resistances are used to estimate the temperature in the vaporizing chamber. The manufacturing process is described as well as the characterization of the thrusters’ structural and electrical elements. In total 12 devices with different combinations of heaters and nozzles have been assessed and four of them have been used to demonstrate the successful operation of the thrusters. Results are used to validate the thrusters and show a performance close to the design parameters and comparable to other devices found in the literature.
AB - This paper presents the results of design, manufacturing and characterization of Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters (VLM) with integrated molybdenum heaters and temperature sensing. The thrusters use water as the propellant and are designed for use in CubeSats and PocketQubes. The devices are manufactured using silicon based MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology and include resistive heaters to vaporize the propellant. The measurements of the heaters’ resistances are used to estimate the temperature in the vaporizing chamber. The manufacturing process is described as well as the characterization of the thrusters’ structural and electrical elements. In total 12 devices with different combinations of heaters and nozzles have been assessed and four of them have been used to demonstrate the successful operation of the thrusters. Results are used to validate the thrusters and show a performance close to the design parameters and comparable to other devices found in the literature.
KW - MEMS
KW - Microresistojet
KW - Microthruster
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029395697&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8ceb1708-9c6d-4720-8b7b-db9df91dc8db
U2 - 10.1016/j.sna.2017.07.032
DO - 10.1016/j.sna.2017.07.032
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029395697
SN - 0924-4247
VL - 265
SP - 261
EP - 274
JO - Sensors and Actuators A: Physical: an international journal devoted to research and development of physical and chemical transducers
JF - Sensors and Actuators A: Physical: an international journal devoted to research and development of physical and chemical transducers
ER -