Experimental Study on Laser Propulsion of Air breathing Mode

A series of experiments were done to investigate the effect of laser parameters on laser propulsion. A high power high repetition rate TEA CO2 laser was employed in the experiments. The output energy of the laser is up to 15J and the repetition rate is up to 150 pps. The light craft models in the experiments were two parabolic aluminum shells with the exit diameter of 50 mm, the focus lengths were 5mm and 10mm respectively. The effect of the laser's repetition rate on coupling coefficient was mainly investigated. The value of optimal repetition rate for laser propulsion of air-breathing mode is discussed. On the basis of our investigation, a setup of laser propulsion demonstration experiment was designed. And laser-powered free flight demonstration was realized. The 4.2g parabolic craft with 10mm focus length was boosted by the TEA CO2 laser to the altitude of more than 2.6m (limited by the ceiling of the laboratory) in a flight lasting 1.75s. The output pulse energy is 13J and the repetition rate is 50 pps.