Microthrusters in silicon for aerospace application

Author

Giulio, Lamedica ; Marco, Balucani ; Aldo, Ferrari ; Domenico, Tromboni Pier ; Mario, Marchetti

Author_Institution

Dept. Electron., La Sapienza Univ., Rome, Italy

Volume

17

Issue

9

fYear

2002

fDate

9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

22

Lastpage

27

Abstract

This paper reviews the results of the thermal and static analysis of small motor aerospace technology (SMART) propulsion system, constituted of a microthrusters array realised by MEMS technology on silicon wafers. This system has been studied using FEM (NASTRAN) and the results have been verified by the electro-thermic analogy and the FDM method, using, respectively, SPICE and MATLAB codes. The simulation results demonstrated the feasibility of SMART systems for aerospace applications such as attitude control and deorbiting missions for small satellite station-keeping. A theoretical impulse of 20 mNs has been calculated for the SMART system.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; finite difference methods; finite element analysis; micromechanical devices; micromotors; thermal analysis; FDM method; FEM; MATLAB; MEMS; SMART propulsion system; SPICE; aerospace applications; attitude control; deorbiting missions; electro-thermic analogy; finite differences method; microthrusters array; small motor aerospace technology propulsion system; small satellite station-keeping; thermal analysis; Aerospace electronics; Combustion; Electric resistance; Micromechanical devices; Propulsion; Silicon; Space technology; Surface resistance; Thermal conductivity; Thermal resistance;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MAES.2002.1039790

Filename

1039790