Summary: JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER
Vol. 21, No. 1, January­February 2005
Performance Analysis of Microthrusters Based on Coupled
Thermal-Fluid Modeling and Simulation
A. A. Alexeenko,
D. A. Levin,
D. A. Fedosov,
and S. F. Gimelshein
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
and
R. J. Collins§
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Gas flow and performance characteristics of a high-temperature micro-electronically machined systems
(MEMS)-based thruster are studied using a coupled thermal-fluid analysis. The material thermal response gov-
erned by the transient-heat-conduction equation is obtained by the finite element method. The low­Reynolds
number gas flow in the microthruster is modeled by the direct simulation Monte Carlo approach. The effects of
Reynolds number, thermal boundary conditions, and micronozzle height are considered in detail. The predicted
thrust and mass-discharge coefficient of the three-dimensional microthruster under different flow conditions de-
crease with time as the viscous losses increase for higher wall temperatures.
Nomenclature

Source: Alexeenko, Alina - School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University

Collections: Engineering