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Experimental and numerical analysis of the heat flux characteristic of the plume of a 120-N thruster

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Abstract

The convective heat transfer of the plume of a 120-N thruster is investigated experimentally and numerically. Numerical results agree well with experimental results in that there is a nonlinear decrease in convective heat transfer with an increasing cone angle. It is also found that convective heat transfer decreases with increasing distance from the thruster outlet. Furthermore, the convective heat transfer of the plume mainly concentrates within a 35° cone angle and the heat flux decreases to the same order as solar radiation at the Earth’s surface when the cone angle exceeds 60°. The results of the study will help improve spacecraft design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Space Long March Vehicle, Beijing, 100076, China

    MingXing Zhang

  2. School of Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    GuoBiao Cai, BiJiao He & Hao Zhou

  3. Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering, Beijing, 100094, China

    ZhenYu Tang

Authors
  1. MingXing Zhang
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  2. GuoBiao Cai
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  3. BiJiao He
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  4. ZhenYu Tang
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  5. Hao Zhou
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Correspondence to BiJiao He.

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Zhang, M., Cai, G., He, B. et al. Experimental and numerical analysis of the heat flux characteristic of the plume of a 120-N thruster. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 62, 1854–1860 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-018-9373-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-018-9373-8

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