Study on the laser induced plasma applying for laser propulsion

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-1216.vid The purpose of our research is to clarify the basic phenomenon of laser-induced plasma in laser propulsion used for space propulsion and to propose a new mechanism. In this research, as a basic experiment, a flying object launch experiment using an RP laser and a numerical analysis simulating a CW laser propulsion device were performed. The experiment was carried out using a Nd: YAG pulsed laser. A liquid-solid combined propellant was applied to the flying target. Impulse was optimal for solid propellants with 3% weight of water added and Isp up to about 2,000 seconds was obtained. In addition to the experimental work on the RP laser propulsion, numerical work on the CW laser propulsion was also performed and the new numerical method to simulate flow around the plasma using commercial CFD code is proposed and it is partially validated by reproducing the tendency of the flow field observed in the basic CW laser propulsion experiment in the literature.