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

Über diese Stelle

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, hysteresis, creep, temperature behavior) and its effect on the valve’s flow area

• Assess the concept against typical electric propulsion requirements (flow range, leak rate, power consumption, operating temperature range)

• Build a physical flow model of the valve that links actuator stroke, inlet pressure, and gas properties to mass flow, covering the relevant flow regimes (e.g., choked and transitional flow)

• Integrate the actuator into a valve architecture and design a breadboard model

• Review existing test bench infrastructure with pressure sensors and a mass flow meter, adapt if necessary, and carry out flow characterization with inert gases

• Optionally, develop and implement a closed-loop control strategy (e.g., PID with hysteresis compensation) and evaluate its performance in terms of accuracy, resolution, response time, and stability

• Optionally, derive design recommendations for a flight-representative valve

• Currently enrolled in a relevant engineering program, ideally Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, or a similar field

• Solid knowledge of fluid mechanics or gas dynamics; experience with control engineering is a plus

• Hands-on experience with lab work, test setups, or measurement technology (e.g., from working student jobs, engineering projects, or student teams)

• Programming skills in Julia, Python or MATLAB/Simulink for modeling, data analysis, and controller design

• Motivated, pragmatic, and self-organized

• Fluent in English; German and other languages are a plus

• Internship can be mandatory or voluntary

• Above average remuneration

• Guided but self-determined problem solving to realize your ideas

• Deep dive into the domain of commercial spaceflight and mobility

• Opportunity for an adjacent employment as working student or for thesis

• Flexible entry date, the sooner the better with flexible working hours

• Holiday entitlement above German standards