Experimental structure of electric propulsion plume anti-sputtering cylinder and electric thruster

Abstract

The invention provides an electric propulsion plume anti-sputtering cylinder and an experimental structure of an electric thruster. The electric propulsion plume anti-sputtering cylinder comprises a box body, a buffer absorption layer, a detachable connection structure and refrigeration equipment, the buffer absorbing layer is detachably mounted on the inner surface of the box body through a detachable connecting structure; the refrigeration equipment is connected with the box body, the box body comprises a cylinder with openings in the two sides and a cone, the cone is installed on one opening side of the cylinder, and the cylinder and the cone are fixed through screws. The buffer absorption layer is arranged on the inner wall of the cylinder and the wall surface of the cone close to the opening side of the other side of the cylinder. The vertex of the cone is located on the central axis of the box body, and the included angle between the wall face of the cone and the central axis of the box body is 45 degrees. Through the design of the buffer absorption layer and the 45-degree cone angle, the metal working medium can be collected, the metal working medium is prevented from rebounding and splashing in the vacuum chamber, and meanwhile, heat emitted by the metal working medium is absorbed through the refrigeration equipment, so that the test environment is prevented from being damaged by the heat.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of aerospace, in particular to an electric propulsion plume splash proof barrel, and in particular to an electric propulsion plume splash proof barrel for electric thrust. Background Art

[0002] With its specific impulse advantage far exceeding that of traditional chemical propulsion, electric propulsion technology has become one of the most effective ways for spacecraft in various countries to reduce their total mass, increase their payload capacity, and extend their on-orbit life. Internationally, the use of electric propulsion systems has been regarded as one of the indicators of the advancement of space thrusters. In August 2010, the advanced extremely high frequency military satellite AEHF developed by Lockheed Martin in the United States was successfully saved by a multi-mode Hall thruster when its apogee engine failed, ensuring its scheduled 14-year life and avoiding losses of more than $2 billion. This marked the beginning of the development of all-electric propulsion satellite technology. On October 14, 2012, China's Shijian 9A satellite carried out an on-orbit experiment in space with the LIPS-200 ion thruster and the HET-70 Hall thruster. This was China's first space experimental verification of electric propulsion technology. With this as a node, China's electric propulsion technology officially entered the space application stage from the basic pre-research stage. In 2016, China's new generation of magnetically focused Hall thrusters HEP-100MF, jointly developed by Harbin Institute of Technology and Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, were used on the Shijian-17 satellite, which was successfully launched by the Long March 5 carrier rocket at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan and successfully ignited in geosynchronous orbit on November 22 of the same year, marking the first space application of magnetically focused Hall thrusters in the world. In December 2019, China successfully applied the LIPS-300 ion thruster independently developed by the Lanzhou Institute of Space Technology and Physics on the Shijian-20 satellite, which means that China's electric propulsion technology has made a major breakthrough. In January 2020, China's first 20kW high-power Hall thruster developed by the Shanghai Institute of Space Propulsion successfully completed the ignition test. The successful development of this thruster has achieved a leap in the thrust of China's Hall thrusters from millinewtons to newtons. It can be seen that the necessity and importance of electric propulsion in the field of modern aerospace are becoming increasingly prominent. As space missions expand and satellite performance improves, the development of higher-performance electric propulsion devices will play a vital role in China's future space missions.

[0003] Among the electric thrusters, metal working fluid electric thrusters have been widely developed and there are many related studies. Metal working fluid thrusters use metal as the working fluid of electric thrusters, which have the advantages of simple structure and good economy. They will be widely used in deep space missions with low requirements in the future.

[0004] However, the testing process of metal working fluid will have a great impact on the vacuum chamber, because the metal working fluid in the electric thruster will rebound and splash in the vacuum chamber, which will especially damage the cryopump, molecular pump, xenon pump and other instruments used for maintaining the environment inside the chamber. Take the cryopump as an example, there is an activated carbon layer inside the cryopump. When the metal working fluid rebounds and splashes to the cryopump, too much of it is absorbed by the activated carbon layer, and the activated carbon layer loses its own function.

[0005] The power, magnetic field environment, thrust and other performance of the metal working fluid electric thruster need to be obtained through multiple experimental tests. The test of the electric thruster is mainly carried out in a vacuum chamber. The construction of the vacuum chamber requires the support of more precision instruments. In order to observe the internal environment, a certain number of glass windows are opened on the surface of the vacuum chamber to observe the internal situation. During the test of the metal working fluid electric thruster, the ejected metal working fluid will inevitably bounce and splash everywhere in the vacuum environment chamber. The possible consequences include direct damage to the internal structure of the vacuum chamber, damage to the observation window of the vacuum chamber, causing it to be blurred, heat dissipation of the metal working fluid causing local overheating, damage to the structure of the vacuum chamber, and excessive metal working fluid deposited at the bottom of the vacuum chamber causing damage to its bottom structure and thus causing danger, etc.

[0006] Therefore, how to prevent the rebound and splash of metal working fluid has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the defects in the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an experimental structure of an electric propulsion plume splash shield and an electric thruster.

[0008] An electric propulsion plume anti-sputtering barrel provided by the present invention comprises a box body, a buffer absorption layer, a detachable connection structure and a refrigeration device;

[0009] The buffer absorption layer is detachably mounted on the inner surface of the box body through the detachable connection structure; the refrigeration device is connected to the box body to cool the box body.

[0010] Preferably, the buffer absorption layer is carbon felt.

[0011] Preferably, the refrigeration device is an annular refrigeration device, which is sleeved on the outside of the box and fits with the outer surface of the box.

[0012] Preferably, the box body comprises a cylinder with openings on both sides and a cone, the cone is installed on an open side of the cylinder, and the cylinder and the cone are fixed with screws;

[0013] The buffer absorption layer is arranged on the inner wall of the cylinder and the wall surface of the cone close to the opening side of the other side of the cylinder.

[0014] Preferably, the box body is a cylindrical structure, with one side open and the other side recessed into the cylinder to form a cone;

[0015] The buffer absorption layer matches the shape of the box body.

[0016] Preferably, the apex of the cone is located on the central axis of the box, and the angle between the cone wall and the central axis of the box is 45°.

[0017] Preferably, the detachable connection structure includes screws and / or copper wire structures.

[0018] Preferably, the box body is made of copper or aluminum alloy.

[0019] Preferably, the electric propulsion plume splash shield is installed at the end of the electric thruster vacuum chamber, and the opening side of the box body faces the electric thruster that sprays the metal working fluid.

[0020] Preferably, an experimental structure of an electric thruster includes the electric propulsion plume splash shield described above.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0022] 1. The present invention can collect metal working fluids through the design of a buffer absorption layer and a cone angle of 45°, thereby preventing the metal working fluids from rebounding and splashing inside the vacuum chamber. At the same time, the heat emitted by the metal working fluids is absorbed by the refrigeration equipment, thereby preventing the heat from damaging the test environment.

[0023] 2. The buffer absorption layer of the present invention is detachably connected to the box body, so that the carbon felt can be detached and replaced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments made with reference to the following drawings:

[0025] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0027] The figure shows:

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. The following embodiments will help those skilled in the art to further understand the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention in any form. It should be noted that, for those of ordinary skill in the art, several changes and improvements can also be made without departing from the concept of the present invention. These all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

[0030] The present invention provides an electric propulsion plume anti-sputtering tube, comprising a housing 1, a buffer absorption layer 2, a detachable connection structure 3 and a refrigeration device 4; the buffer absorption layer 2 is detachably installed on the inner surface of the housing 1 through the detachable connection structure 3, and preferably, the housing 1 and the carbon felt are tightly fitted through the detachable connection structure 3; the refrigeration device 4 is connected to the housing 1 to cool the housing 1. That is to say, the detachable connection structure 3 is used to achieve the connection and fixation between the housing 1 and the buffer absorption layer 2. In a preferred example, the detachable connection structure 3 includes a screw and / or a copper wire structure, and in another preferred example, the detachable connection structure 3 may also be a Velcro structure or other detachable structure. In a preferred example, the housing 1 is made of copper or aluminum alloy. In a preferred example, the buffer absorption layer 2 is a soft carbon felt.

[0031] The refrigeration device 4 is an annular refrigeration device, which is sleeved on the outside of the box body 1 and fits tightly with the outer surface of the box body 1 and is firmly connected.

[0032] The box 1 is used to provide basic structural stability for all other components and provide a stable rigid frame. Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, in a preferred example, the box 1 includes a cylinder with openings on both sides and a cone 11, the cone 11 is installed on one open side of the cylinder, the cylinder and the cone are fixed with screws, and the buffer absorption layer 2 is arranged on the inner wall of the cylinder and the wall surface of the cone 11 close to the other open side of the cylinder. In another preferred example, the box 1 is a cylindrical structure, one side is open, and the other side is recessed into the cylinder to form the cone 11; the buffer absorption layer 2 matches the shape of the box 1.

[0033] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, the vertex of the cone 11 is located on the central axis of the box 1, and the angle between the wall of the cone 11 and the central axis of the box 1 is 45°.

[0034] The electric propulsion plume splash shield is installed at the end of the vacuum chamber of the electric thruster, and the opening side of the box body 1 faces the electric thruster that sprays the metal working medium.

[0035] In the preferred example where screws are used to fix the cylinder and cone of the above-mentioned box body 1, the splash-proof cylinder can also be understood as a rigid mold with a funnel with an internal angle of 90 degrees as the main body, and the angle between the funnel wall and the axis of the funnel is 45 degrees. The outside of the funnel is completely surrounded by a rigid mold cylinder along the edge of the funnel. When the electric thruster is working, the tip of the funnel is aimed at the electric thruster itself. The inner wall of the cylinder and the wall of the funnel close to the opening side of the box body are all covered with carbon felt and fixed with copper wire. The carbon felt can be disassembled and replaced. Screws are used to fix the cylinder and the funnel to make it a whole. A condensation system is used on the outside of the cylinder to absorb the heat generated by the working fluid.

[0036] The working principle of the present invention is: Figure 2 When the metal working medium rushes toward the inside of the box along the axis of the cone at a very high speed, a part of it will be directly absorbed by the carbon felt on the surface of the cone 11. At the same time, the metal working medium will be reflected by the 45-degree inclined plane due to its high speed, and will be rebounded to the inner wall of the cylinder at an angle of about 90 degrees to the cylinder. It will release its own kinetic energy and heat energy in the process of passing through the carbon felt. Part of the metal working medium on the cylinder will be reflected for the second time and absorbed by the carbon felt again. After all the metal working medium contacts with the carbon felt and is captured, the heat released by the metal working medium will be concentrated on the surface of the cylinder and absorbed by the refrigeration equipment 4. When necessary, the number of cones inside the cylinder can be increased to form multiple cones wrapped by carbon felt, which can achieve better absorption effect.

[0037] The present invention designs an electric propulsion plume splash shield for an electric thruster, which provides a method for handling the metal working fluid plume during the experiment of the metal working fluid electric thruster inside the vacuum chamber. All the metal working fluid is completely absorbed by the carbon felt through a relatively simple device, and the heat released inside the metal working fluid is completely absorbed by the refrigeration equipment, thereby avoiding the rebound splash of the metal working fluid in the vacuum chamber. The present invention can better reduce the damage to its internal structure caused by the drifting of the metal working fluid plume inside the vacuum chamber in a relatively simple way and a relatively economical way. The experimental equipment is protected and the deposition of the metal working fluid is reduced. At the same time, the carbon felt of the invention itself can be disassembled. When it absorbs too much metal working fluid and loses its own function, the carbon felt can be directly disassembled and discarded, and replaced with a new carbon felt.

[0038] The present invention is mainly used to collect metal working fluids, prevent the metal working fluids from rebounding and splashing inside the vacuum chamber, and absorb the heat emitted by the metal working fluids through the refrigeration equipment, thereby preventing them from damaging the test environment. Specifically, the present invention absorbs the metal working fluids through the carbon felt, and reflects the metal working fluids to the cylindrical body part through the 45-degree slope of the cone part, and dissipates the heat generated by the reflected metal working fluids through the refrigeration equipment, thereby preventing the deposition of the metal working fluids from damaging the environment inside the chamber. It is suitable for all electric thrusters with metal working fluids, with a simple structure, safety and reliability.

[0039] To sum up, in order to reduce the harm caused by the metal working fluid electric thruster to the environment inside the vacuum chamber during the vacuum chamber experiment, thereby affecting the experimental results or damaging the operation of the equipment, the present invention provides a device for eliminating the kinetic energy and thermal energy of the metal working fluid through carbon felt and refrigeration equipment. The device has the advantages of being able to reflect the metal working fluid of the electric thruster, dissipate heat, prevent working fluid deposition, strong durability, simple structure, convenient installation, good economy, and applicable to a wide range of thrusters.

[0040] The present invention also provides an experimental structure of an electric thruster, comprising the electric propulsion plume splash-proof tube.

[0041] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0042] Those skilled in the art know that, in addition to implementing the system, device and its various modules provided by the present invention in a purely computer-readable program code, it is entirely possible to implement the same program in the form of logic gates, switches, application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers and embedded microcontrollers by logically programming the method steps. Therefore, the system, device and its various modules provided by the present invention can be considered as a hardware component, and the modules included therein for implementing various programs can also be considered as structures within the hardware component; the modules for implementing various functions can also be considered as both software programs for implementing the method and structures within the hardware component.

[0043] The above describes the specific embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which does not affect the essence of the present invention. In the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other arbitrarily.

Claims

1. An electric propulsion plume splash shield, characterized in that: It comprises a box body (1), a buffer absorption layer (2), a detachable connection structure (3) and a refrigeration device (4); The buffer absorption layer (2) is detachably mounted on the inner surface of the box body (1) via the detachable connection structure (3); the refrigeration device (4) is connected to the box body (1) and is used to cool the box body (1).

2. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The buffer absorption layer (2) is carbon felt.

3. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The refrigeration device (4) is an annular refrigeration device, which is sleeved on the outside of the box body (1) and fits closely to the outer surface of the box body (1).

4. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The box (1) comprises a cylinder with openings on both sides and a cone (11), wherein the cone (11) is installed on one open side of the cylinder, and the cylinder and the cone are fixed with screws; The buffer absorption layer (2) is arranged on the inner wall of the cylinder and the wall surface of the cone (11) close to the opening of the other side of the cylinder.

5. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The box body (1) is a cylindrical structure, one side of which is open and the other side is recessed into the inside of the cylinder to form a cone (11); The buffer absorption layer (2) matches the shape of the box body (1).

6. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The apex of the cone (11) is located on the central axis of the box (1), and the angle between the wall surface of the cone (11) and the central axis of the box (1) is 45°.

7. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detachable connection structure (3) comprises a screw and / or a copper wire structure.

8. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The box body (1) is made of copper or aluminum alloy.

9. The electric propulsion plume splash shield according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electric propulsion plume splash-proof cylinder is installed at the end of the vacuum chamber of the electric thruster, and the opening side of the box body (1) faces the electric thruster that sprays the metal working fluid.

10. An experimental structure of an electric thruster, characterized in that: An electric propulsion plume splash shield comprising the electric propulsion plume splash shield according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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