On the numerical simulations of electric field-enhanced solid-state electro-aerodynamic thrusters enabled with an insulated electrode

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new electric field-enhanced solid-state electro-aerodynamic thruster concept, demonstrating through simulations that it improves thrust density without increasing power consumption, by using auxiliary electrodes to induce ionization.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel propulsion system that employs auxiliary electrodes to enhance thrust, challenging the feasibility of decoupled ion generation and acceleration in prior designs.

Findings

Improved thrust density demonstrated in simulations.

Maintains thrust-to-power ratio with auxiliary electrodes.

Decoupling of ionization and acceleration is infeasible without diffusion effects.

Abstract

A solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion system applies a high electric potential difference between two electrodes to ionize air within the resulting electric field, accelerating the ions to generate thrust. Previously, the so-called ``decoupled thrusters'' have been proposed, in which ion generation and acceleration are spatially decoupled. Here, we argue that such decoupling is infeasible from the perspective of electric field lines if the diffusion effects are ignored, and consequently the driving method (e.g., dielectric barrier discharge) for the additional electrodes can be improved. Specifically, the use of auxiliary electrodes that do not discharge but induce ionization and attachment can be appropriate. This concept was named the electric field-enhanced solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion system. Furthermore, through numerical simulations, this concept showed improvement in thrust density while maintaining the thrust-to-power ratio.