Open AccessA MEMS-based solid propellant microthruster array for space and military applications
Author(s) -
Amar Chaalane,
R. Chemam,
Mourad Houabes,
Riad Yahiaoui,
Abderrezak Metatla,
B Ouari,
Noureddine Metatla,
Djillali Mahi,
Ahmed Dkhissi,
D. Estève
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/660/1/012137
Subject(s) - propellant , deep reactive ion etching , materials science , combustion chamber , thrust , microelectromechanical systems , ignition system , nozzle , aerospace engineering , combustion , composite material , optoelectronics , etching (microfabrication) , chemistry , reactive ion etching , layer (electronics) , engineering , organic chemistry
Since combustion is an easy way to achieve large quantities of energy from a small volume, we developed a MEMS based solid propellant microthruster array for small spacecraft and micro-air-vehicle applications. A thruster is composed of a fuel chamber layer, a top-side igniter with a micromachined nozzle in the same silicon layer. Layers are assembled by adhesive bonding to give final MEMS array. The thrust force is generated by the combustion of propellant stored in a few millimeter cube chamber. The micro-igniter is a polysilicon resistor deposited on a low stress SiO2/SiNx thin membrane to ensure a good heat transfer to the propellant and thus a low electric power consumption. A large range of thrust force is obtained simply by varying chamber and nozzle geometry parameters in one step of Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE). Experimental tests of ignition and combustion employing home made (DB+x% BP) propellant composed of a Double-Base and Black-Powder. A temperature of 250 therefore degrees C, enough to propellant initiation, is reached for 40 mW of electric power. A combustion rate of about 3.4 mm/s is measured for DB+20% BP propellant and thrust ranges between 0.1 and 3,5 mN are obtained for BP ratio between 10% and 30% using a microthruster of 100 mu m of throat wide