Master´s Thesis: Proportional Piezo Valve for Electric Propulsion Feed Systems (m/f/d)

Deine Mission

Join our fluid control equipment development team and help develop a proportional piezo valve for precise mass flow control in electric propulsion feed systems. Electric thrusters such as Hall-effect and gridded ion thrusters need a very stable, finely resolved propellant flow (typically xenon or krypton) in the low mg/s range. 
Piezoelectric actuators offer fast response, high resolution, and low power use, which makes them a promising alternative to conventional thermal throttles and bang-bang solenoid regulation. However, effects such as hysteresis, creep, and temperature dependence must be understood and compensated. You will model, build up, and experimentally characterize a piezo-based flow control concept, and develop a control strategy for closed-loop mass flow regulation.

Your Responsibilities

• Review the state of the art in mass flow control for electric propulsion, including thermal throttles, solenoid-based pressure regulation, and piezo valves
• Research state of the art of piezo actuators and trade different architectures (e.g. stacked, amplified, piezo motors) for the given application
• Characterize the piezo actuator (stroke, force, hys