The introduction of micro-satellites has revolutionized the space missions. The mass of this small satellite is very critical to the mission. Any weight savings will benefit significantly towards the orbital lifetime or revenue-producing life of a communications satellite. One of the weight saving schemes is by using the solid propulsion fuel as load bearing material (structural components of the spacecraft). An experimental investigation was conducted on the elastic modulus of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) fuel with various reinforcements. The PPT is used for guidance, navigation, and control in these satellites. PPT uses solid Teflon propellant. However, Teflon cannot be used alone since the material is very soft. Reinforcing the fuel with high modulus fibers will enhance the structural performance of the fuel. Therefore, an experimental program was carried out to study the structural properties of the reinforced fuel. In this paper, the result of the reinforced fuel with different materials will be presented. Different fabric contents were also investigated.
PPT Fuel with Reinforcements
Ninth Biennial Conference on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments ; 2004 ; League City, Houston, Texas, United States
2004-03-03
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
|