Performance study of electrohydrodynamic thruster under the influence of external magnetic fields

Variation of the thrust of an electrohydrodynamic thruster by introducing an external magnetic field with different combinations of magnet positions and collector shapes is analysed. Electrohydrodynamic thruster parameters at interelectrode gap of 34 mm and pressure of 1 atm with a positive corona discharge and their interaction with external magnetic fields were investigated. The experimental setup includes an EHD thruster, a controlled chamber, a high voltage power source (HVDC), and a deflection meter to measure the thrust force. At a pressure of 1 atm, the thrust without any external magnetic field influence was 4.82 mN in the rhombus-shaped grid collector and 1.8mN in the hollow cylindrical collector, respectively. The thruster's effective thrust ranges from 1.8 mN to 5.6 mN at atmospheric pressure with an interelectrode gap of 34 mm. The introduced external magnetic field for the EHD thruster has a noticeable thrust variation in both types of collectors. However, a significant reduction in thrust-to-weight ratio across all configurations is observed because of the addition of magnets.