Experimental performance characterization of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma thruster for propulsion applications

In this research, the dielectric barrier discharge plasma driven channel flow has been proposed for use as a thruster in the propulsion’s applictions and has been experimentally studied. Measurments of the thrust and consumed power with different values of barrier thicknesses and electrodes’ lenghths have been performed. The data of the mentioned parameters have been taken in order to quantify the effects of operating voltage on the effectiveness parameter of thruster, showing a peak-shaped profile for the effectiveness with maximum value of 0.19 mN/W at the profile summit. Also, a power law analysis has been used to derive relationships for the effectiveness, thrust and consumed power in terms of the applied voltage. It has been found that the thruster’s power is proportional to the voltage with exponent of 4, and the thrust is function of voltage with exponent of 2.2 and 5.8 for the glow and filamentary regimes, respectively. Finally, it has been shown that the effectiveness can be correlated to applied voltage with exponent of 1/8 and -1.8 for the glow and filamentary regimes, respectively.