New Methods for Computer Tomography Based Ion Thruster Diagnostics and Simulation

Abstract

Non-destructive X-ray imaging of thruster parts and assemblies down to the scale of several micrometers is a key technology for electric propulsion research and engineering. It allows for thorough product assurance, rapid state acquisition and implementation of more detailed simulation models to understand the physics of device wear and erosion. Being able to inspect parts as 3D density maps allows insight into inner structures hidden from observation. Generating these density maps and also constructing three dimensional mesh objects for further processing depends on the achievable quality of the reconstruction, which is the inverse of Radon's transformation connecting a stack of projections taken from different angles to the original object's structure. Reconstruction is currently flawed by strong mathematical artifacts induced by the many aligned parts and stark density contrasts commonly found in electric propulsion thrusters.