Thin-film strain gauge sensors for ion thrust measurement

Author

Stephen, R. John ; Rajanna, K. ; Dhar, Vivek ; Kumar, K. G Kalyan ; Nagabushanam, S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Instrum., Indian Inst. of Sci., Bangalore, India

Volume

4

Issue

3

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

373

Lastpage

377

Abstract

In order to measure the thrust produced by a stationary plasma thruster, a measurement system has been developed using a thrust balance with thin-film strain gauge sensors. For this purpose, strain gauges were designed and deposited on the columns of the thrust balance fabricated and necessary signal conditioning circuits have been used. The performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster. In situ calibration was done using Lami´s principle. For discharge powers varying from 210-275 W, the measured values of thrust were found to be in the range of 11-16 mN with an accuracy of ±1 mN and resolution of 0.12 mN. Specific impulse and efficiency were also estimated.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; calibration; electric propulsion; ion engines; strain gauges; strain sensors; thin films; 210 to 275 W; Land principle; calibration; discharge powers; ion thrust measurement; measurement system; signal conditioning circuits; space simulated; stationary plasma thruster; strain gauge sensors; thin-film; thrust balance; vacuum chamber; Calibration; Capacitive sensors; Circuit simulation; Plasma measurements; Sensor systems; Signal design; Strain measurement; Thin film circuits; Thin film sensors; Vacuum systems; Stationary plasma thruster; thin-film strain gauge; thrust balance;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Sensors Journal, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1530-437X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSEN.2004.827276

Filename

1294918