Design and Stress Analysis of Extraterrestrial ... - The Black Vault

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Pulsed plasma face-type motor with a
solid working ,medf'um
Pulsed motors can also be made with a solid working medium.
This motor (Fig: 5.7) consists of an accelerator-generator unit,
a feed unit, and a power supply system.
The plasma accelerator-generator unit includes cathode 1,
insulating element 2, and anode 3. The feed unit includes gas
cylinder 4 with the controlling gas, reducing valve 5, container
with controlling fluid 6, dosing device 7, drive 8 for moving the
,working medium, and working medium 9 (teflon). The power supply
system consists of capacitor 10 and power source 11.
Fig. 5.7. Diagram of a pulsed f 11111-
plasma motor with a solid
wofking medium.
2 3
When operating voltage is fed to the cathode and the anode,
on the surface of the face of the teflon ring there occurs a surface
discharge, evaporation, and ionization of the teflon evaporation
products. Forces of the emerging electromagnetic field act on the
forming plasma, accelerate it, and, as a result, create the thrust
of the motor.
To compensate for the expenditure of teflon from the face there
is a working medium feed system. Compressed gas through the reducing
-valve 5 presses the working liquid out of tank 6 into sealed, freely
expanding chamber 8, thud ensuring the displacement of the grain
in the discharge gap.
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