Thin-Film Strain Gauge Sensors for Ion Thrust Measurement

Stephen, John R and Rajanna, K and Dhar, Vivek and Kumar, Kalyan KG and Nagabushanam, S (2004) Thin-Film Strain Gauge Sensors for Ion Thrust Measurement. In: IEEE Sensors Journal, 4 (3). 373 -377.

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Abstract

In order to measure the thrust produced by a stationary plasma thruster, a measurement system has been developed using a thrust balance with thin-film strain gauge sensors. For this purpose, strain gauges were designed and deposited on the columns of the thrust balance fabricated and necessary signal conditioning circuits have been used. The performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster. In situ calibration was done using Lami's principle. For discharge powers varying from 210-275 W, the measured values of thrust were found to be in the range of 11-16 mN with an accuracy of \pm 1 mN and resolution of 0.12 mN. Specific impulse and efficiency were also estimated.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	IEEE Sensors Journal
Publisher:	IEEE
Additional Information:	�©1990 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
Keywords:	Stationary plasma thruster;Thin-film strain gauge;Thrust balance.
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Instrumentation Appiled Physics
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2005
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:21
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/4208

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