Electrode design for magnetohydrodynamic power panels on reentering space vehicles

Craig A. Steeves, Mikhail N. Shneider, Sergey O. Macheret, Haydn N.G. Wadley, Richard B. Miles, Anthony G. Evans

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Power can be extracted from the ionized fluid surrounding a re-entering space vehicle using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles, provided an appropriate system of magnetic fields, thermal protection, and current collection electrodes can be designed and manufactured. Given computational fluid dynamics results for a re-entering spacecraft presented elsewhere (1), this paper examines possible electrode configurations and the implications that these will have for power generation. For practical electrode designs and realistic magnetic fields it is shown that current recirculation, which is detrimental to power generation and to thermal management, will generally arise. The necessity for fully-coupled CFD-MHD calculations is also demonstrated.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages5233-5243
Number of pages11
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005
Event43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit - Reno, NV, United States
Duration: Jan 10 2005Jan 13 2005

Other

Other43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityReno, NV
Period1/10/051/13/05

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

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