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This paper presents the work of the LAPLACE Electromagnetism Research Group to build an experimental setup able to measure tiny forces that may appear in microwave cavities, in the context of EMDrive investigations. It is based on a commercial balance in the range of 0.1 mN sensitivity, a contactless feeding for more than 150 W RF power, and self c...
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... to the complexity of these two modes, we cannot name them easily, so we will simply label them as modes "α" and "β". Table 1 gathers the main information about the cavities and the corresponding excited modes that will be used for EMDrive-like force measurements. All of the electromagnetic performances have been inferred from measurement with a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). ...Context 2
... the big cavities, the asymmetry of the chosen excitation probe causes the cavities to have to be fed slightly differently in order to be assembled in Shaker configuration. This results in variations in resonance frequencies and matching levels, as shown in Table 1. It can also be checked that the quality factors of the modes fed in these big cavities are greater than that of the fundamental mode. ...Citations
... Due to the high weight and stiff coaxial cable from the amplifier, no force was measured for a thruster operating with 2.45 GHz, a Q factor of 3550, and a power of 140 W within their measurement resolution of 0.5 mN. Shortly afterward, an update was published by Peyre et al. [25] with a contactless microwave connection and an increased Q factor of up to 18,500, where no force was measured down to 0.1 mN for a power of 150 W fed into the cavity. Recently, this test was repeated with a cavity including a dielectric insert with a Q factor of 7,000 at a power of 160 W with the same mode (TM212) as White et al. [3], and again, no force was measured [26]. ...
The EMDrive is a proposed propellantless propulsion concept claiming to be many orders of magnitude more efficient than classical radiation pressure forces. It is based on microwaves, which are injected into a closed tapered cavity, producing a unidirectional thrust with values of at least 1 mN/kW. This was met with high scepticism going against basic conservation laws and classical mechanics. However, several tests and theories appeared in the literature supporting this concept. Measuring a thruster with a significant thermal and mechanical load as well as high electric currents, such as those required to operate a microwave amplifier, can create numerous artefacts that produce false-positive thrust values. After many iterations, we developed an inverted counterbalanced double pendulum thrust balance, where the thruster can be mounted on a bearing below its suspension point to eliminate most thermal drift effects. In addition, the EMDrive was self-powered by a battery-pack to remove undesired interactions due to feedthroughs. We found no thrust values within a wide frequency band including several resonance frequencies and different modes. Our data limit any anomalous thrust to below the force equivalent from classical radiation for a given amount of power. This provides strong limits to all proposed theories and rules out previous test results by at least two orders of magnitude.
... Due to the high weight and stiff coaxial cable from the amplifier, no force was measured for a thruster operating with 2.45 GHz, a Qu factor of 3,550 and a power of 200 W within their measurement resolution of 5 mN. Shortly afterwards, an update was published by Peyre et al [25] with a contactless microwave connection and an increased Qu factor of up to 18,500, where no force was measured down to 0.1 mN for a power of 150 W into the cavity. ...
The EMDrive is a proposed propellantless propulsion concept claiming to be many orders of magnitude more efficient than classical radiation pressure forces. It is based on microwaves, which are injected into a closed tapered cavity, producing a unidirectional thrust with values of at least one mN/kW. This was met with high scepticism going against basic conservation laws and classical mechanics. However, several tests and theories appeared in the literature supporting this concept. Measuring a thruster with a significant thermal and mechanical load as well as high electric currents, such as those required to operate a microwave amplifier, can create numerous artefacts that produce false-positive thrust values. After many iterations, we developed an inverted counterbalanced double pendulum thrust balance, where the thruster can be mounted on a bearing below its suspension point to eliminate most thermal drift effects. In addition, the EMDrive was self-powered by a battery pack to remove undesired interactions due to feedthroughs. Using a geometry and operating conditions close to the model by White et al that reported positive results published in the peer-reviewed literature, we found no thrust values within a wide frequency band including several resonance frequencies. Our data limits any anomalous thrust to below the force equivalent from classical radiation for a given amount of power. This provides strong limits to all proposed theories and rules out previous test results by more than three orders of magnitude.
... For our study, at the LAPLACE Plasma and Energy Conversion Laboratory, we developed a basic setup producing almost instantaneous calibrations and results [4][5][6]. In this paper, we present how we replicated two NASA-like cavities in order to exploit the same electromagnetic configuration, or resonant mode. ...
... The main parts of the LAPLACE's EMDrive experimental setup, depicted in Figure 5, are extensively described in our previous papers [4][5][6]. Actually, the setup configuration is almost identical to that established in reference [6]: the cavities in Shaker configuration, positioned on the precision balance, are fed by the RF power unit through the contactless microwave transition. The two quasi-identical copper cavities are assembled and oriented in opposite directions. ...
... The main parts of the LAPLACE's EMDrive experimental setup, depicted in Figure 5, are extensively described in our previous papers [4][5][6]. Actually, the setup configuration is almost identical to that established in reference [6]: the cavities in Shaker configuration, positioned on the precision balance, are fed by the RF power unit through the contactless microwave transition. The two quasi-identical copper cavities are assembled and oriented in opposite directions. ...
div class="section abstract"> The reactionless drive is an internal momentum engine which until recently has been deemed impossible under the laws of physics. In this paper, the authors will extend the equation for reaction less propulsion = F = − μ q 2 / 6 π c m r 2 v × d B d t + B × d v d t
and derive an additional equation, which we call “The Sektet Equation” governing the system of motion, F S e k = − μ q 2 / 6 π c m r 2 ∗ 2 B ∗ d B d t .
The results of the paper show that significant thrusts can be generated on relatively low voltages and energy inputs. It applies this equation to explain how NASA’s EM drive likely produces thrust via the “Sektet Equation” using a three circuit analysis of the Sektet Force.
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