Thrust stand for electric propulsion performance evaluation

An electric propulsion thrust stand capable of supporting testing of thrusters having a total mass of up to $125kg$ and producing thrust levels between $100μN$ to $1N$ has been developed and tested. The design features a conventional hanging pendulum arm attached to a balance mechanism that converts horizontal deflections produced by the operating thruster into amplified vertical motion of a secondary arm. The level of amplification is changed through adjustment of the location of one of the pivot points linking the system. Response of the system depends on the relative magnitudes of the restoring moments applied by the displaced thruster mass and the twisting torsional pivots connecting the members of the balance mechanism. Displacement is measured using a noncontact, optical linear gap displacement transducer, and balance oscillatory motion is attenuated using a passive, eddy-current damper. The thrust stand employs an automated leveling and thermal control system. Pools of liquid gallium are used to deliver power to the thruster without using solid wire connections, which can exert undesirable time-varying forces on the balance. These systems serve to eliminate sources of “zero drift” that can occur as the stand thermally or mechanically shifts during the course of an experiment. An in situ calibration rig allows for steady-state calibration before, during, and after thruster operation. Thrust measurements were carried out on a cylindrical Hall thruster that produces millinewton-level thrust. The measurements were very repeatable, producing results that compare favorably with previously published performance data, but with considerably smaller uncertainty.