The present work focuses on the conception, design, characterization of a new propulsion system to allow autonomous missions on hybrid high / low thrust trajectories, which we have called sound propulsion.
It is known that sound is not transmitted in a vacuum, sound is the sensation given by the vibration of an oscillating body. This vibration, which propagates in the air or in another elastic medium, reaches the auditory apparatus of the ear which, through a complex internal mechanism, creates an "auditory sensation" related to the nature of the vibration; however, the sound, under certain conditions, generates air, a pressure. It is known that the oscillations are movements of the particles around the rest position and along the direction of propagation of the wave; the displacements are caused by vibratory movements, coming from a certain object, called the sound source, which transmits its movement to the adjacent particles thanks to the mechanical properties of the medium; the particles in turn, starting to oscillate, transmit the movement to the other nearby particles and these in turn to still others, causing a local variation of the pressure; in this way, a simple vibratory movement propagates mechanically, originating a sound wave (or acoustic wave), which is therefore a longitudinal wave. A longitudinal wave occurs when the particles of the medium in which the wave propagates oscillate along the direction of propagation. Longitudinal mechanical waves are also referred to as pressure waves. Sound is a wave that has the following properties: reflection, refraction and diffraction, but not polarization (unlike light which is an electromagnetic wave).
Therefore, since sound is a movement of matter, it is not transmitted in a vacuum, since there is no matter to oscillate, so the sound is not transmitted, but we can use the same sound produced by a source which, with certain characteristics, generates AIR with a certain speed, pressure and set of characteristics useful for controlling the CubeSats in maneuver, thus generating a new type of propulsion that does not exist in the world today.
The proposed solution allows for an important compromise with significant improvement for the environment, risks, load, standardization, process and all the related cause / effect characteristics known today.
Comparison (some types of propulsion)
A cold gas can typically stores inert gas, such as nitrogen, in a pressurized tank and releases the gas through a nozzle to produce thrust.
Chemical propulsion systems use a chemical reaction to produce a high-pressure, high-temperature gas that accelerates from a nozzle. The chemical propellant can be liquid, solid or a hybrid of both.
CubeSat electric propulsion typically uses electrical energy to accelerate the propellant to high speed, which results in a high specific impulse.
Solar sails (also called light sails or photon sails) are a form of spacecraft propulsion that uses radiation pressure (also called solar pressure) from the stars to propel large, ultra-thin mirrors at high speeds, without the need for propellant.
The previous types of propulsion mentioned have known advantages and disadvantages, the proposed solution that we have called WAVE PROPULSION OR SOUND OR SONIC WAVE, even if the sound itself is not transmitted in a vacuum, under certain conditions produces impulses useful for propulsion. Our sound propulsion has very specific characteristics, maximized, highly precise, economical, reusable, perpetual over time, which we can divide into two types,
ARTIFICIAL SOUND PROPULSION determined by an artificial source, therefore the source itself is generated, supported, by an energy source that activates the system called sound propulsion and therefore activates air for the thrust / propulsion
NATURAL SOUND PROPULSION determined by a natural source, i.e. by the movement and speed in orbit of the CubeSat, the orbital wind is detected, picked up and used, which allows the sound device to be activated and therefore to activate air and then thrust / propulsion.
Hybrid transfer solutions using sound-electric or sound-energy propulsion allow a compromise between the mass of the system and the transfer time.
The devised propulsion allows the simultaneous optimization of the low thrust trajectory with the operations of the propeller and is exploited to obtain optimal solutions of heliocentric transfers.
Sound or sonic propulsion could lead to a major paradigm shift in solar system exploration efforts using CubeSat with a high ratio of scientific return to investment.
Antonio Mambelli