STG-ET: DLR Electric Propulsion Test Facility

Abstract: DLR operates the High Vacuum Plume Test Facility Göttingen – Electric Thrusters (STG-ET). This electric propulsion test facility has now accumulated several years of EP-thruster testing experience. Special features tailored to electric space propulsion testing like a large vacuum chamber mounted on a low vibration foundation, a beam dump target made of low sputtering material, and a performant pumping system characterize this facility. The vacuum chamber is 12.2m long and has a diameter of 5m. With respect to accurate thruster testing, the design focus is on accurate thrust measurement, plume diagnostics, and plume interaction with spacecraft components. Electric propulsion thrusters have to run for thousands of hours, and with this the facility is prepared for long-term experiments. This paper gives an overview of the facility, and shows some details of the vacuum chamber, pumping system, diagnostics, and experiences with these components.

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STG-ET: DLR electric propulsion test facility

Journal of large-scale research facilities JLSRF ◽

10.17815/jlsrf-3-156 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Neumann

Keyword(s):

Electric Propulsion ◽

Vacuum Chamber ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Test Facility ◽

Space Propulsion ◽

Beam Dump ◽

Pumping System ◽

Thrust Measurement ◽

Electric Space

DLR operates the High Vacuum Plume Test Facility Göttingen – Electric Thrusters (STG-ET). This electric propulsion test facility has now accumulated several years of EP-thruster testing experience. Special features tailored to electric space propulsion testing like a large vacuum chamber mounted on a low vibration foundation, a beam dump target with low sputtering, and a performant pumping system characterize this facility. The vacuum chamber is 12.2m long and has a diameter of 5m. With respect to accurate thruster testing, the design focus is on accurate thrust measurement, plume diagnostics, and plume interaction with spacecraft components. Electric propulsion thrusters have to run for thousands of hours, and with this the facility is prepared for long-term experiments. This paper gives an overview of the facility, and shows some details of the vacuum chamber, pumping system, diagnostics, and experiences with these components.

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Thrust measurement and thrust balance development at DLR’s electric propulsion test facility

EPJ Techniques and Instrumentation ◽

10.1140/epjti/s40485-021-00074-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Neumann ◽

Jens Simon ◽

Jens Schmidt

Keyword(s):

Electric Propulsion ◽

Vacuum Chamber ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Space Mission ◽

Measurement Range ◽

Test Facility ◽

Background Information ◽

Low Thrust ◽

Diagnostic Systems ◽

Thrust Measurement

AbstractElectric space propulsion thrusters only produce low thrust forces. For the fulfillment of a space mission this implies long thruster runtimes, and this entails long qualification times on ground. For such long testing times, a ground facility requires a vacuum chamber and a powerful pumping system which can guarantee high vacuum over extended times and under thruster gas load. DLR’s STG-ET is such a ground test facility. It has a high pumping capability for the noble gases typically used as propellants. One basic diagnostic tool is a thrust measurement device, among various other diagnostic systems required for electric propulsion testing, e.g. beam diagnostics. At DLR we operate a thrust balance developed by the company AST with a thrust measurement range of 250 mN and capable of thruster weights up to 40 kg. Adversely, it is a bulky and heavy device and all upgrades and qualification work needs to be done in a large vacuum chamber. In order to have a smaller device at hand a second thrust stand is under development at DLR. The idea is to have a light and compact balance that could also be placed in one of the smaller DLR vacuum chambers. Furthermore, the calibration is more robust and the whole device is equipped with a watercooled housing. First tests are promising and showed a resolution well below 1 mN. In this paper we give background information about the chamber, describe the basics of thrust measurement and the development of a new balance.

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An electric propulsion long term test facility

10.2514/6.1979-2080 ◽

1979 ◽

Author(s):

G. TRUMP ◽

E. JAMES ◽

R. VETRONE ◽

R. BECHTEL

Keyword(s):

Electric Propulsion ◽

Test Facility

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Operational summary of an electric propulsion long term test facility

10.2514/6.1982-1903 ◽

1982 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. TRUMP ◽

E. JAMES ◽

R. BECHTEL

Keyword(s):

Electric Propulsion ◽

Test Facility

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Thin Pyrolytic Graphite Films for Electron Microscope Substrates

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100065183 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 226-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

George H. N. Riddle ◽

Benjamin M. Siegel

Keyword(s):

Vacuum Chamber ◽

Pyrolytic Graphite ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Dark Field ◽

Ultra High Vacuum ◽

Graphite Substrate ◽

Nickel Substrate ◽

Routine Procedure ◽

Field Electron Microscopy ◽

Dark Field Electron

A routine procedure for growing very thin graphite substrate films has been developed. The films are grown pyrolytically in an ultra-high vacuum chamber by exposing (111) epitaxial nickel films to carbon monoxide gas. The nickel serves as a catalyst for the disproportionation of CO through the reaction 2C0 → C + CO2. The nickel catalyst is prepared by evaporation onto artificial mica at 400°C and annealing for 1/2 hour at 600°C in vacuum. Exposure of the annealed nickel to 1 torr CO for 3 hours at 500°C results in the growth of very thin continuous graphite films. The graphite is stripped from its nickel substrate in acid and mounted on holey formvar support films for use as specimen substrates.The graphite films, self-supporting over formvar holes up to five microns in diameter, have been studied by bright and dark field electron microscopy, by electron diffraction, and have been shadowed to reveal their topography and thickness. The films consist of individual crystallites typically a micron across with their basal planes parallel to the surface but oriented in different, apparently random directions about the normal to the basal plane.

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Vacuum System to Minimize the Specimen Contamination of High-Performance EM

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100077967 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 35 ◽

pp. 68-69

Author(s):

N. Yoshimura ◽

K. Shirota ◽

T. Etoh

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

High Speed ◽

High Performance ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Vacuum System ◽

Pump System ◽

Pumping System ◽

Diffusion Pump ◽

Almost All ◽

Cascade Type

One of the most important requirements for a high-performance EM, especially an analytical EM using a fine beam probe, is to prevent specimen contamination by providing a clean high vacuum in the vicinity of the specimen. However, in almost all commercial EMs, the pressure in the vicinity of the specimen under observation is usually more than ten times higher than the pressure measured at the punping line. The EM column inevitably requires the use of greased Viton O-rings for fine movement, and specimens and films need to be exchanged frequently and several attachments may also be exchanged. For these reasons, a high speed pumping system, as well as a clean vacuum system, is now required. A newly developed electron microscope, the JEM-100CX features clean high vacuum in the vicinity of the specimen, realized by the use of a CASCADE type diffusion pump system which has been essentially improved over its predeces- sorD employed on the JEM-100C.

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The reactor research and test facility

Space engineering and technology ◽

10.33950/spacetech-2308-7625-2020-4-69-79 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 69-79

Author(s):

Andrey S. KIRILLOV ◽

Aleksandr P. PYSHKO ◽

Andrey A. ROMANENKO ◽

Valery I. YARYGIN

Keyword(s):

Measurement System ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Power Plants ◽

Test Facility ◽

Physical Parameters ◽

Pumping System ◽

Current State ◽

History Of ◽

Special Measurement ◽

Space Nuclear Power

The paper describes an overview of the history of development and the current state of JSC “SSC RF-IPPE” reactor research and test facility designed for assembly, research and full-scale life energy tests of space nuclear power plants with a thermionic reactor. The leading specialists involved in development and operation of this facility are represented. The most significant technological interfaces and upgrade operations carried out in the recent years are discussed. The authors consider the use of an oil-free pumping system as part of this facility during degassing and life testing. Proposed are up-to-date engineering solutions for development of the automated special measurement system designed to record NPP performance, including volt-ampere characteristics together with thermophysical and nuclear physical parameters of a ground prototype of the space nuclear power plant. Key words: reactor research and test facility, thermionic reactor, life energy tests, oil-free pumping system, automated special measurement system, volt-ampere characteristics.

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The Growth and Characterization of Germanium-Carbon Alloy Thin Films

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-270-91 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 270 ◽

Author(s):

Haojie Yuan ◽

R. Stanley Williams

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽

Vacuum Chamber ◽

Optical Band Gap ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Optical Absorption Spectroscopy ◽

Alloy Thin Film ◽

New Materials ◽

X Ray

ABSTRACTThin films of pure germanium-carbon alloys (GexC1−x with x ≈ 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) have been grown on Si(100) and A12O3 (0001) substrates by pulsed laser ablation in a high vacuum chamber. The films were analyzed by x-ray θ-2θ diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), conductivity measurements and optical absorption spectroscopy. The analyses of these new materials showed that films of all compositions were amorphous, free of contamination and uniform in composition. By changing the film composition, the optical band gap of these semiconducting films was varied from 0.00eV to 0.85eV for x = 0.0 to 1.0 respectively. According to the AES results, the carbon atoms in the Ge-C alloy thin film samples has a bonding configuration that is a mixture of sp2 and sp3 hybridizations.

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