Abstract: In order to investigate the effect of structural parameters on the thrust performance of the micro-nozzles which is used in the attitude adjustment and orbit correction for micro-satellites, micro-nozzles with different structural parameters are fabricated by microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. The parameters comprise the half divergence angle, length of throat section, throat width and area ratio. The experiment processed in the atmosphere environment. It is found that some features are different from those of the conventional macro-nozzles. The effects of structural parameters and operation conditions on micro-nozzle’s performance are concluded. The experimental results show that: the optimal half divergence angle increase with the inlet pressure increasing in an choked flow; the length of throat section has little effect on micro-nozzle’s performance; a larger throat width makes a larger thrust for the same inlet pressure, on the other hand it produces a smaller specific impulse; for the same inlet pressure, nozzle with larger area ratio produces smaller thrust, and the specific impulse comes to a maximum when the area ratio is close to five. The results of this paper will be helpful for the design and application of micro-nozzles.

Key words: micro-satellite, micro-nozzle, structural parameter, performance, design