Exploratory Research on Charged Electrodes for Propulsion

The Biefeld-Brown effect has remained a mysterious physical phenomenon for nearly 100 years. It was shown in patents by its discoverer that a force exists between two highly charged electrodes which generally move towards the one of smaller physical dimensions. The system converts electrical energy directly into mechanical force making it attractive for a potentially propulsive application. At current, theories surrounding the effect range from ionic wind to artificial gravity. The research discussed herein investigates the theories surrounding the effect through analyses of the available literature coupled with an experimental program to gain a deeper understanding of the observed force. The experimental program is broken up into two tiers which investigate charged electrodes dependent on both fluid dielectric and solid dielectric mediums. It is drawn from the investigation that there are in fact two independent phenomena which have been attributed to the Biefeld-Brown effect resulting in confusion over the decades. From the fluid dielectric experiments conducted in this study, new insight into ionic wind theory has been made by cross examining collector electrode radius of curvature 𝒓𝒄 and separation gap 𝒅. A maximum effectiveness of 𝜽=𝟒𝟒.𝟓𝒎𝑵𝑾−𝟏at thrust 𝑻=𝟐.𝟔𝟐𝒎𝑵𝒎−𝟏was achieved. In addition, it is also shown that magnetic fields enhance the thrust performance that is proportional to voltage input. From the solid dielectric experiments it is deduced that ionic wind is not the cause of the effect, rather, the effect performance is primarily based on the amount of energy stored between the electrodes as well as the ability for the dielectric material to distort the electric field.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Matsoukas, George

• Biefeld-Brown
• Dielectric
• Electrohydrodynamics

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17189

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/54038