The impact of neutralizer-free ignition of a radio frequency ion thruster on the lifetime of the ion optics system

Author(s):  
Long-Fei Ma ◽  
Li Duan ◽  
Jian-Wu He ◽  
Qi Kang ◽  

In the initial stage of a radio frequency ion thruster (RIT) ignition, an influx of electrons is required from an external source into the discharge chamber and ionization of the neutral gas propellant. A neutralizer-free method for Townsend breakdown discharge ignition based on Paschen’s law was developed in this study. The feasibility of the ignition method was confirmed by performing thousands of ignition experiments. Metallic Molybdenum (Mo), pyrolytic graphite (PG) and Zr[Formula: see text]Ti[Formula: see text]Cu[Formula: see text]Ni[Formula: see text]Be[Formula: see text]alloy acceleration grids were prepared, and ignition-induced damage on the grids was investigated. A field-emission scanning electron microscope was used to inspect surface damage on the grids after multiple ignitions and to analyze the influence of the ignition method on the lifetime of the ion optical system. Grid materials for space missions that require multiple RIT ignitions (10[Formula: see text] should be high-strength blocks that are resistant to sputtering corrosion and high temperature.

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 045109
Author(s):  
L. J. Buntrock ◽  
C. Volkmar ◽  
K. Hannemann
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Yamada ◽  
Kohei Tateyama ◽  
Shino Naruke ◽  
Hisashi Sasaki ◽  
Shinichi Torigata ◽  
...  

AbstractThe destruction caused by ballistic ejecta from the phreatic eruptions of Mt. Ontake in 2014 and Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane (Mt. Moto-Shirane) in 2018 in Japan, which resulted in numerous casualties, highlighted the need for better evacuation facilities. In response, some mountain huts were reinforced with aramid fabric to convert them into shelters. However, a number of decisions must be made when working to increase the number of shelters, which depend on the location where they are to be built. In this study, we propose a method of using high-strength steel to reinforce wooden buildings for use as shelters. More specifically, assuming that ballistic ejecta has an impact energy of 9 kJ or more, as in previous studies, we developed a method that utilizes SUS304 and SS400 unprocessed steel plates based on existing impact test data. We found that SUS304 is particularly suitable for use as a reinforcing material because it has excellent impact energy absorption characteristics due to its high ductility as well as excellent corrosion resistance. With the aim of increasing the structural strength of steel shelters, we also conducted an impact test on a shelter fabricated from SS400 deck plates (i.e., steel with improved flexural strength provided by work-hardened trapezoidal corrugated plates). The results show that the shelter could withstand impact with an energy of 13.5 kJ (2.66 kg of simulated ballistic ejecta at 101 m/s on impact). In addition, from the result of the impact test using the roof-simulating structure, it was confirmed the impact absorption energy is further increased when artificial pumice as an additional protective layer is installed on this structure. Observations of the shelter after the impact test show that there is still some allowance for deformation caused by projectile impact, which means that the proposed steel shelter holds promise, not only structurally, but also from the aspects of transportation and assembly. Hence, the usefulness of shelters that use steel was shown experimentally. However, shelter construction should be suitable for the target environment.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Irati Zurutuza ◽  
Nerea Isasti ◽  
Eric Detemple ◽  
Volker Schwinn ◽  
Hardy Mohrbacher ◽  
...  

The synergetic effect on hardenability by combining boron with other microalloying elements (such as Nb, Mo and Nb + Mo) is widely known for high-strength medium carbon steels produced by direct quenching and subsequent tempering treatment. The improvement of mechanical properties could be reached through optimization of different mechanisms, such as solid solution hardening, unit size refinement, strain hardening, fine precipitation hardening and the effect of carbon in solid solution. The current study proposes a procedure for evaluating the contribution of different microstructural aspects on Charpy impact toughness. First, the effect that austenite conditioning has on low-temperature transformation unit sizes and microstructural homogeneity was analysed for the different microalloying element combinations. A detailed crystallographic characterization of the tempered martensite was carried out using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) in order to quantify the effect of unit size refinement and dislocation density. The impact of heterogeneity and presence of carbides was also evaluated. The existing equations for impact transition temperature (ITT50%) predictions were extended from ferrite-pearlite and bainitic microstructures to tempered martensite microstructures. The results show that microstructural refinement is most beneficial to strength and toughness while unit size heterogeneity has a particularly negative effect on ductile-to-brittle transition behaviour. By properly balancing alloy concept and processing, steel having a yield strength above 900 MPa and low impact transition temperature could be obtained by direct quenching and tempering.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Dharmaraj Veeramani ◽  
Jenny Tang ◽  
Alfonso Gutierrez

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a rapidly evolving technology for automatic identification and data capture of products. One of the barriers to the adoption of RFID by organizations is difficulty in assessing the potential return on investment (ROI). Much of the research and analyses to date of ROI in implementing RFID technology have focused on the benefits to the retailer. There is a lack of a good understanding of the impact of RFID at upper echelons of the supply chain. In this paper, we present a framework and models for assessing the value of RFID implementation by tier-one suppliers to major retailers. We also discuss our real-life application of this framework to one of Wal-Mart’s top 100 suppliers


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
Qing Peng ◽  
Sheng Peng ◽  
Qiang Cao

Graphene is a good candidate for protective material owing to its extremely high stiffness and high strength-to-weight ratio. However, the impact performance of twisted bilayer graphene is still obscure. Herein we have investigated the ballistic resistance capacity of twisted bilayer graphene compared to that of AA-stacked bilayer graphene using molecular dynamic simulations. The energy propagation processes are identical, while the ballistic resistance capacity of the twisted bilayer graphene is almost two times larger than the AA-bilayer graphene. The enhanced capacity of the twisted bilayer graphene is assumed to be caused by the mismatch between the two sheets of graphene, which results in earlier fracture of the first graphene layer and reduces the possibility of penetration.


Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1566
Author(s):  
Anastasiya Dolzhenko ◽  
Rustam Kaibyshev ◽  
Andrey Belyakov

The microstructural mechanisms providing delamination toughness in high-strength low-alloyed steels are briefly reviewed. Thermo-mechanical processing methods improving both the strength and impact toughness are described, with a close relation to the microstructures and textures developed. The effect of processing conditions on the microstructure evolution in steels with different carbon content is discussed. Particular attention is paid to tempforming treatment, which has been recently introduced as a promising processing method for high-strength low-alloyed steel semi-products with beneficial combination of strength and impact toughness. Tempforming consists of large strain warm rolling following tempering. In contrast to ausforming, the steels subjected to tempforming may exhibit an unusual increase in the impact toughness with a decrease in test temperature below room temperature. This phenomenon is attributed to the notch blunting owing to easy splitting (delamination) crosswise to the principle crack propagation. The relationships between the crack propagation mode, the delamination fracture, and the load-displacement curve are presented and discussed. Further perspectives of tempforming applications and promising research directions are outlined.


2013 ◽  
Vol 762 ◽  
pp. 551-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Stanislaw Węglowski ◽  
Marian Zeman ◽  
Miroslaw Lomozik

In the present study, the investigation of weldability of new ultra-high strength - Weldox 1300 steel has been presented. The thermal simulated samples were used to investigate the effect of welding cooling time t8/5 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the heat affected zone (HAZ). In the frame of these investigation the microstructure was studied by the light (LM) and transmission electron microscopies (TEM). It has been shown that the microstructure of the Weldox 1300 steel is composed of tempered martensite, and inside the laths the minor precipitations mainly V(CN) and molybdenum carbide Mo2C were observed. Mechanical properties of parent material were analysed by the tensile, impact and hardness tests. In details the influence of cooling time in the range of 2,5 - 300 s. on hardness, impact toughness and microstructure of simulated HAZ was studied by using welding thermal simulation test. The results show that the impact toughness and hardness decrease with the increase of t8/5 under the condition of a single thermal cycle in simulated HAZ. The continuous cooling transformation diagrams (CCT-W for welding conditions) of Weldox 1300 steel for welding purposes was also elaborated. The steel Weldox 1300 for cooling time in the range of 2,5 - 4 s showed martensite microstructure, for time from 4 s to 60 s mixture of martensite and bainite, and for longer cooling time mixture of ferrite, bainite and martensite. The results indicated that the weldability of Weldox 1300 steel is limited and to avoid the cold cracking the preheating procedure or medium net linear heat input should be used.


Photonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Dong Qin ◽  
Yuhao Wang ◽  
Tianqing Zhou

This paper investigates the impact of cooperative spectrum sharing policy on the performance of hybrid radio frequency and free space optical wireless communication networks, where primary users and secondary users develop a band of the same spectrum resource. The radio frequency links obey Nakagami-m distribution with arbitrary fading parameter m, while the free space optical link follows gamma-gamma distributed atmospheric turbulence with nonzero pointing error. Because the secondary users access the spectrum band without payment, their behavior needs to be restricted. Specifically, the power of the secondary users is dominated by the tolerable threshold of the primary users. Considering both heterodyne and intensity modulation/direct detection strategies in optical receiver, the performance of optical relaying networks is completely different from that of traditional networks. With the help of bivariable Fox’s H function, new expressions for cumulative distribution function of equivalent signal to noise ratio at destination, probability density function, outage probability, ergodic capacity and symbol error probability are built in closed forms.


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