Plume influence analysis of small bipropellant thruster on solar array of GEO satellite

Abstract

An exhaust plume gas flow from a bipropellant thruster has been recognized as a potential source of a load, heat, and contamination on the exposed satellite components which can especially degrade the optical properties and performance of solar panel. Therefore, accurate predictions of a bipropellant thruster plume gas flow and assessments of its influences should be considered at the design phase of a satellite. The objective of the present study is to investigate the plume gas flow behavior of a small bipropellant thruster and to evaluate its influence on the solar array of a GEO satellite numerically. To deal with complex plume flow regimes efficiently, the combined approach of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) was applied depending on the flow characteristic conditions. Throughout the numerical results of the present study, the influences of the plume gas flow exhausted from a single bipropellant thruster were considered for the disturbance, heat, and contamination of the three-dimensional satellite configuration equipped with a large solar array.