Design, fabrication, and testing of an undergraduate hall effect thruster

Abstract

AbstractA multi-institutional team of undergraduate students conducted an independent study in which they designed, fabricated, and tested a small Hall effect thruster. The study was motivated by student desire to engage in a hands-on, multidisciplinary project in the field of space propulsion. This paper represents the outcome of this educational experiment. It describes the educational framework followed; the fundamental physics behind Hall thruster operation (at an early undergraduate level); the design process followed to develop and construct the thruster including a novel additively-manufactured propellant diffuser; and testing results. The thruster did not successfully ignite during testing. The cathode/plasma source was identified as the likely point of failure; rather than design flaws in the thruster itself, thereby introducing next steps for a future study following a similar framework. The educational program presented serves as a case study for a small-team undergraduate space propulsion project with limited resources and prior knowledge as well as a technical reference and knowledge base for future teams attempting a project of similar scope.