高精度推力架标定技术应用及进展

Application and Progress of Calibration Technology of High-precision Thrust Stand

微推进器在航天器姿态控制、轨道维持和阻力补偿中具有广泛应用,而应用的前提是对其推力的直接测量。微推进器产生的推力通常为mN级或更低,并且具有较低的推重比,需要使用推力架对其推力性能进行高精度测量和评估。推力架作为测量仪器,在进行推力测量前需要标定。标定过程主要是通过将精确可知的力或冲量作用在推力架上,记录响应情况,得到推力架响应与作用力或冲量之间的对应关系。随着航天技术的发展,一些高精度空间任务对推进器推力范围、分辨率和稳定性等参数的要求不断提高,同时对推力架测量能力以及相应标定技术的稳定性、精确性和可操控性提出了更高的要求。根据标定方法的不同进行分类,综述了近年来高精度推力架标定技术的研究进展。通过介绍和分析重力法、冲击力法、静电力法、电磁力法和气体分子作用力法等标定方法的原理、装置及应用情况,评述和总结了不同标定方法的适用条件和特点,并对高精度推力架标定技术的未来发展趋势进行了展望。

Microthrusters are widely used in spacecraft attitude control,orbit maintenance and drag compensation,and the direct measurement of their thrust is the premise of their application.The thrust generated by microthrusters is usually at or below the mN level and has a low thrust-to-weight ratio.The thrust stand is often used to measure and evaluate its thrust performance with high precision.As a measuring instrument,the thrust stand needs to be calibrated before the thrust measurement.The calibration process is mainly to obtain the corresponding relationship between the response of the thrust stand and the force or impulse by applying the accurately known force or impulse on the thrust stand and recording its response.With the development of space technology,some high-precision space missions have increasing requirements for thrust range,resolution,stability and other parameters of thruster.At the same time,higher requirements are also put forward for the measurement capability of the thrust stand and the stability,accuracy and controllability of the corresponding calibration technology.The different calibration methods and the research progress of high-precision thrust stand calibration technology in recent years are classified.The principle,device and application of calibration methods such as gravity method,impact force method,electrostatic force method,electromagnetic force method and gas molecular force method are introduced and analyzed.The application conditions and characteristics of different calibration methods are reviewed and summarized,and the future development trend of high-precision thrust stand calibration technology is prospected.