Prediction and experimental measurement of electromagnetic thrust generated by a microwave thruster system

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/22/5/050301

Abstract A microwave thruster system that can convert microwave power directly to thrust without gas propellant is developed. In the system, a cylindrical tapered resonance cavity and a magnetron microwave source are used respectively as the thruster cavity and the energy source to generate the electromagnetic wave. The wave is radiated into and then reflected from the cavity to form a pure standing wave with a non-uniform electromagnetic pressure distribution. Consequently, a net electromagnetic thrust exerted on the axis of the thruster cavity appears, which is demonstrated through theoretical calculation based on the electromagnetic theory. The net electromagnetic thrust is also experimentally measured in the range from 70 mN to 720 mN when the microwave output power is from 80 W to 2500W.

Keywords: electromagnetic waves Maxwell stress tensor electromagnetic processes and properties

Received: 16 March 2012
Revised: 29 December 2012
Accepted manuscript online:

PACS:	03.50.De	(Classical electromagnetism, Maxwell equations)
	41.20.Jb	(Electromagnetic wave propagation; radiowave propagation)
	13.40.-f	(Electromagnetic processes and properties)

Fund: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90716019).

Corresponding Authors: Yang Juan
E-mail: yangjuan@nwpu.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Yang Juan (杨涓), Wang Yu-Quan (王与权), Ma Yan-Jie (马艳杰), Li Peng-Fei (李鹏飞), Yang Le (杨乐), Wang Yang (王阳), He Guo-Qiang (何国强) Prediction and experimental measurement of electromagnetic thrust generated by a microwave thruster system 2013 Chin. Phys. B 22 050301

[1]	Kuninaka H, Nishiyama K, Funaki I, Yamada T, Shimizu Y and Kawaguchi J 2007 Propuls. Power 23 544
[2]	Kuninaka H, Nishiyama K, Funaki I, Shimizu Y, Yamada T and Kawaguchi J 2006 Plasma Sci. IEEE Trans. 34 2125
[3]	Funaki I, Kuninaka H, Toki K and Propuls J 2004 Power 20 718
[4]	Senguptaa A 2009 Phys. 105 093303
[5]	Smirnov A, Raitses Y and Fisch N J 2007 Phys. Plasma. 14 057106
[6]	Yang J, Han X W, He H Q and Mao G W 2004 J. Spacecraft Rockets 41 126
[7]	Yang J, Xu Y Q, Meng Z Q and Yang T L 2008 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79 083503
[8]	Yang J, Xu Y Q, Tang J L, Mao G W, Yang T L and Tan X Q 2008 Phys. Plasma. 15 023503
[9]	Johnson L, Young R M and Montgomery E E IV 2007 AIP Conf. Proc. 886 207
[10]	http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/ikaros/index_e.html
[11]	Abdallah C T, Chahine E, Geogriev D and Schamiloglu E 2003 AIP Conf. Proc. 664 348
[12]	Mullins J 2006 New Sci. 2568 20
[13]	Shelley T 2007 Ureka. 27 14
[14]	Wang Y P 2007 Engineering Electrodynamics (Xi'an: Xidian University Press) (in Chinese)
[15]	Meng Q B 2005 Microwave Technology (Hefei: Industrial Press) (in Chinese)
[16]	Yang J, Yang L, Zhu Y and Ma N 2010 J. Northwestern Polytechnical University 28 807
[17]	Yang J, He H Q, Mao G W and Han X W 2004 J. Spacecraft Rockets 41 126
[18]	Li K, Chen W J and Nao 2003 Chin. Phys. 12 321
[19]	Liu S T, Shi P F and Duan Y P 2010 Acta Phys. Sin. 59 8566 (in Chinese)
[20]	Liang C H and Tan K B 2009 Acta Phys. Sin. 58 6770 (in Chinese)
[21]	Nie N M, Huang J F and Zhao W J 2009 Chin. Phys. B 18 2634
[22]	Huang J Y and Li Y L 2005 Chin. Phys. B 14 646

[1]	Numerical study of optical trapping properties of nanoparticle on metallic film with periodic structure Cheng-Xian Ge(葛城显), Zhen-Sen Wu(吴振森), Jing Bai(白靖), Lei Gong(巩蕾). Chin. Phys. B, 2019, 28(2): 024203.
[2]	Parallel propagating modes and anomalous spatial damping in the ultra-relativistic electron plasma with arbitrary degeneracy H Farooq, M Sarfraz, Z Iqbal, G Abbas, H A Shah. Chin. Phys. B, 2017, 26(11): 110301.
[3]	Propagation characteristics of power line harmonic radiation in the ionosphere Wu Jing (吴静), Fu Jing-Jing (付静静), Zhang Chong (张翀). Chin. Phys. B, 2014, 23(3): 034102.
[4]	Quantum mechanical description of waveguides Wang Zhi-Yong (王智勇), Xiong Cai-Dong(熊彩东), He Bing(何兵). Chin. Phys. B, 2008, 17(11): 3985-3990.
[5]	On the properties of electromagnetic waves propagating inside moving dielectric media He Qi-Cai (贺奇才), Xu Sheng-Hui (徐生辉), Li Ping-Yang (李平阳), Wei Dong-Ji (魏冬季), Ling Yang-Hao (凌养浩), Chen Di-Hu (陈弟虎). Chin. Phys. B, 2004, 13(5): 682-685.

No Suggested Reading articles found!

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Metrics
Related Articles

Prediction and experimental measurement of electromagnetic thrust generated by a microwave thruster system

Cite this article:

Online attention