Scortecci F., d'Agostino L., d'Auria F. & Andrenucci M., 1993, “Arcjet Propulsion System Study for NSSK”, IEPC Paper 93-013, Proc. 23rd Int. Electric Propulsion Conf., pp. 162-173, Seattle, WA, USA, September 13-17.
Ciucci A., d'Agostino L. & Andrenucci M., 1993, “Development of a Numerical Model of the Nozzle Flow in Low Power Arcjet Thrusters”, IEPC Paper 93-182, Proc. 23rd Int. Electric Propulsion Conf., pp. 1662-1674, Seattle, WA, USA, September 13-17.
Capecchi G. & d’Agostino L., 1994, “Numerical Model of Equilibrium Composition and Transport Coefficients of Hydrazine under Dissociation and Ionization”, AIAA Paper 94-2868, 30th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conf., Indianapolis, IN, USA, June 27-29.

MPD Thrusters. Current efforts in this field are aimed at gaining improved understanding of the basic physical processes occurring in these thrusters, with special attention to electrode and plasma instability losses. Recent developments at the DIA and Centrospazio on low-power applied-field MPDT’s (or hybrid MPDT’s) show considerable promise for short or medium term application as primary propulsion system on solar-powered spacecrafts.

Rossetti P. Paganucci F, Andrenucci M., 1999, “Low Temperature Cathode Operation: a Spot Model – Part I”, IEPC-99-170, 26th Int. Electric Propulsion Conf., Kitakyushu, Japan, October 17-21.
Rossetti P., Paganucci F., Andrenucci M., 2000, “Low Temperature Cathode Operation: a Spot Model-Part II”, AIAA Paper 2000-3539, 36th Joint Propulsion Conf. & Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, USA, July 16-19.
Di Vita A., Paganucci F., Rossetti P., Andrenucci M., 2000, “Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in MPD Plasmas”, AIAA Paper 2000-3538, 36th Joint Propulsion Conf. & Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, USA, July 16-19.

Cut-out of a FEEP system assembly (left), a flight targeted system with the cover lid in the open position (middle), ground firing in the Centrospazio vacuum chamber.
FEEP Thrusters. FEEP activities are concentrated on the development and flight testing of 50 to 1000 µN thrusters, which represent one of the most promising propulsion technologies recently developed in Europe. Recent results have opened the way to unique satellite applications, such as high-precision attitude and position control and disturbance compensation in drag-free missions, requiring extremely low and finely adjustable thrusts levels that cannot be obtained with other propulsion concepts.

Marcuccio, S., Saviozzi, M., Nicolini, D., 2000, “Endurance Test of the Micronewton FEEP Thruster”, AIAA Paper 2000-3270, 36th Joint Propulsion Conf., Huntsville, AL, USA.
Marcuccio, S., Ceccanti, F., Andrenucci, M., 2000, “Control Strategies for Orbit Maintenance of LEO Small Satellites with FEEP”, Proc. 3rd Int. Spacecraft Propulsion Conf., ESA SP-465, Cannes, France.
Boccaletto L. & d’Agostino L., 2000, “Design and Testing of a Micro-Newton Thrust Stand for FEEP”, 36th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conf. and Exhibit, AIAA Paper 2000-3268, Huntsville, AL, USA, July 17-19.

Cut-out of a 0.7 kW HET (left), a fire test of a 1.3 kW HET at Centrospazio (middle), and a 5 kW HET prototype (right).

Hall Effect Thrusters. The Department and Centrospazio have been active in this field since the early 1990’s in collaboration with leading Russian research centers and primary industrial partners in western Europe. Following the development of higher power spacecraft buses, the research work has now shifted from 1 kW HET systems to multi-kW thrusters. Current activities are mostly related to numerical and theoretical modeling of the plasma phenomena and interactions, scaling relations for high and very high power HET’s, and experimental characterization of both in-house developed prototypes and commercial HET systems.

Andrenucci, M., Biagioni, L., Marcuccio, S., 2000, “A High-Power Electric Propulsion Test Facility”, Proc. 3rd Int. Spacecraft Propulsion Conf., ESA SP-465, Cannes, France.

Gas Turbines. Current work partially interfaces with aerothermodynamic activities and mainly consists in experimental testing, analyses and system studies on hybrid automotive propulsion and combined cycle power generation, using a 50 kW microturbine in conjunction with an absorption cycle chiller. Other activities include the development of efficient engine condition monitoring and diagnostics by Bayesian system identification.

Banetta S., Paganucci F. & Giglioli R., 2001, “Set-up and Testing of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant Composed by a Micro Gas Turbine and an Absorption Chiller/Heater”, Proc. ASME Turbo Expo 2001, New Orleans, LO, USA, June 2001.
Banetta S., Bolognesi P., Paganucci F. & Possenti A., 2001, “Modeling and Simulation of a Micro-Turbine Generation”, 18th Int. Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition, Berlin, Germany, Oct. 20-24.
d'Agostino L., Biagioni L. & Cinotti R., 2001, “Turboshaft Engine Condition Monitoring by Bayesian Identification”, 15th Int. Symp. on Air-Breathing Engines (ISOABE), Bangalore, India, September 2001.

The Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility (left) and a cavitating inducer in the test section (right).

Turbopump Fluid Dynamics. Research in these areas comprises experimental, theoretical and numerical analyses of cavitation and rotordynamics of space propulsion turbopumps. Ongoing work focuses on the modeling and characterization of the unsteady phenomena in turbopump impellers and journal bearings, as well as on the development and validation of numerical codes and flow models for the simulation of cavitation in the presence of thermal effects. Theoretical analyses provided the first rational explanation of the observed coupled subsynchronous/supersynchronous free whirl motions of cavitating turbopumps. Experimentation makes use of the Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility, a custom-made, versatile and inexpensive water loop with the unique capabilities in Europe of attaining Reynolds and thermal cavitation similarity conditions in full-scale turbopumps for space applications at water temperatures below the boiling point and of allowing for the direct measurement of the rotordynamic fluid forces on whirling impellers with adjustable eccentricity and whirl speed. The facility can also be configured as a small water tunnel and is being used for the experimental validation of the numerical simulations.

Rapposelli E. & d’Agostino L., 2001, “A Modified Isenthalpic Model of Cavitation in Plane Journal Bearings”, CAV2001, International Symp. on Cavitation, Pasadena, California USA, June 20-23.
d’Agostino L., Rapposelli E., Pascarella C. & Ciucci A., 2001, “A Modified Bubbly Isenthalpic Model for Numerical Simulation of Cavitating Flows”, AIAA Paper 2001-3402, 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEEJoint Propulsion Conf., Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, July 8-11.
d’Agostino L., & Venturini-Autieri M., 2002, “Three-Dimensional Analysis of Rotordynamic Fluid Forces on Whirling and Cavitating Finite-Length Inducers”, 9th Int. Symp. on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC-9), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, February 10-14.

A shock interaction experiment in the HEAT (left), a numerical simulation of aerothermochemical phenomena around a hypersonic re-entry vehicle (middle), the ignition transient simulation of an Ariane 5 solid rocket booster (right).

Aerothermodynamics and Chemical Propulsion. Aerothermodynamics activities are carried out in the hypersonic (Mach 6) High Enthalpy Arc-heated Tunnel (HEAT), which is used for fundamental research on shock wave/boundary layer interactions, compressible turbulent flows, real gas effects and aerothermochemistry phenomena. Current work focuses on the measurement of turbulence spectra in high-enthalpy hypersonic flows in the HEAT facility, including the development of suitable and survivable high-speed instrumentation. Similar investigations are also being carried out in the exhaust flow of gas turbine combustors. These experimental activities yielded some extremely interesting results, including one of the first measurements of compressibility effects in high frequency turbulent energy spectra. Ongoing numerical activities in support of the experiments include 2D Navier-Stokes analyses of nozzle flows and shock interactions and direct Monte Carlo simulations of rarefied gas dynamics flows. Chemical propulsion activities include the simulation of ignition transients of solid propellant rockets and the development of flow models for the assessment of the risk of combustion instabilities induced by vortex shedding from the intersegments.

Biagioni L., Scortecci F., Paganucci F., 1999, “Development of Pulsed Arc Heater for Small Hypersonic High-Enthalpy Wind Tunnel”, J. of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol 5, No. 5, pp. 704-710.
Biagioni L. & d’Agostino L., 1999, “Measurements of Energy Spectra in Weakly Compressible Turbulence”, 17th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conf., AIAA Paper 99-3516, Norfolk, VA, USA, June 28-July 1.
d'Agostino L., Biagioni L. & Lamberti G., 2001, “An Ignition Transient Model for Solid Propellant Rocket Motors”, 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conf., AIAA Paper 2001-3449, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, July 8-11.