Atmospheric electroaerodynamic thrusters with grid collectors.

Abstract

The present study investigates the effects of adopting grid structures as collector electrodes on the performance of electroaerodynamic (EAD) thrusters. A systematic experimental campaign was carried out to determine how key geometric parameters of the grids-including spatial density and wire diameter-impact thruster performance. Dimensionless coefficients were introduced in order to enable meaningful comparisons with respect to existing literature. The results reveal the existence of an optimal grid configuration, leading to a significant enhancement in performance compared to the state of the art for a single stage unit, such as in thrust density, achieving a maximum of [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] of applied voltage, and thrust-to-weight ratio, reaching a maximum value of 9.51, all achieved without compromising the propulsive efficiency typical of traditional EAD thrusters.