View syllabus
ELECTRIC PROPULSION II
FABRIZIO PAGANUCCI
Academic year2022/23
CourseAEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Code505II
Credits6
PeriodSemester 2
LanguageEnglish

ModulesAreaTypeHoursTeacher(s)
ELECTRIC PROPULSION IIING-IND/07LEZIONI60
MARIANO ANDRENUCCI unimap
TOMMASO ANDREUSSI unimap
FABRIZIO PAGANUCCI unimap
Syllabus not available in selected language
Learning outcomes
Knowledge

The course imparts the students a specialized preparation in the propulsion field extended to the most advanced or more recently introduced technologies, with particular emphasis on electric propulsion concepts and systems, and provides them with the knowledge concerning the principles of operation, the typical performance, the critical aspects and the state of development of electric thrusters for space applications needed to address the main problems of analysis, design, integration and usage.

Assessment criteria of knowledge

The final exam aims at evaluating the student preparation on the topics covered by the lectures with specific reference to the following aspects: - knowledge acquisition; - critical understanding; - capability of using in a creative and constructive way the information from the course lectures to develop original solutions to an engineering problem. The student will be assessed on his/her demonstrated ability to: - illustrate the derivation from first principles of his/her solution to the given problem(s) by the introduction of the relevant simplifications and/or approximation; - justify the introduction of the simplifications and/or approximations used in the derivation; - assess and discuss the expected level of accuracy and limits of application of the proposed solution. The student must be able to illustrate the reading matter thoughtfully, clearly, synthetically, effectively and with propriety of expression.

Methods:

  • Final oral exam

Further information:
The final exam consist in an interview where the student will typically be required to: – develop in writing of the solution to an original problem addressable by using the information from the course lectures in a creative and constructive way; - illustrate orally or answer questions on one or more topics of the course. Both aspects will be weighted equally (50%).

Skills

By the end of the course:

  • Students will know how to apply the theoretical tools covered by the course for the analysis and preliminary design of the main types of Electric Thrusters.
  • Students will be able to conduct research and analysis of sources available in the literature, as well as web searches related to the projects of their interest.
  • Students will be able to present in written reports or conference papres, as well as slide presentations,the results of their activity
Assessment criteria of skills

 

  • During the practice sessions, a broad choice of particularly significant reference papers referring to the main course topics will be presented and discussed with the students.
  • Practical activities will be carried out to search for sources through known databases.
  • Students will have to prepare and present written reports documenting results of sample project activities.

 

Behaviors

 

  • Students will acquire and/or develop awareness of the main issues involved in EP Threusters design and development.
  • Students will be able to manage or understand  the responsibilities of managing or working in a project team
  • Students will acquire accuracy and precision when collecting and analysing experimental data.

 

Assessment criteria of behaviors

 

  • During  the practice sessions, the accuracy and precision of the activities carried out will be evaluated
  • During group work, the methods of assigning responsibility, management and organisation during the project phases will be evaluated
  • Following seminar activities, students will be requested to submit short reports concerning the topics discussed

 

Prerequisites

Students should have a good background of basic courses in physics and mathematics, and they should have acquired a good basic knowledge of plasma dynamics, obtained by attending the preparatory course Electric Propulsion I 

Teaching methods

Delivery: face to face / teleconferencing,  depending on circumstances 

Learning activities:

  • attending lectures
  • participation in seminar
  • individual study
  • Bibliography search

Attendance: Advised

Teaching methods:

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
Syllabus

Introduction and history of Electric Propulsion. General theory of electric thrusters. Fundamentals of plasma acceleration. MHD Channel theory. Electromagnetic thrusters: Magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters and Pulsed Plasma Thrusters. Hall effect thrusters. Electrostatic thrusters: gridded ion engines, FEEP and Colloid thrusters. Electrothermal thruster: Arcjets, Resistojets. Other types of advanced thrusters. Low thrust mission analysis and design.

Bibliography

Required reading: Course notes and homeworks from the instructor Recommended reading: • Jahn,R.G.,"Physics of Electric Propulsion",Dover,2006. • Goebels,D.M.,Katz,I.,"Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion: Ion and Hall Thrusters", Wiley, 2008.

Assessment methods
  • The exam is made up of one oral test .
  • The oral test consists of an interview between the candidate and the lecturer, or between the candidate and the lecturer’s collaborators. During the oral test the candidate could be requested to also solve written problems/exercises in front of the lecturer or in a separate location (for example, the student could move to a nearby table to complete some tasks whilst the lecturer continues the test with other candidates)
Updated: 19/08/2022 11:55