Comparison of measurement methods of impulse coupling coefficient for laser propulsion

Air track method and impact pendulum method are two common measurement methods of impulse coupling coefficient. Relative errors were calculated and measurement experiments were carried out with the two methods, respectively. The results show that the relative error of air track method (4.6%) is smaller than that of impact pendulum method (6.1%), and measuring errors of the displacement data and the pendulum angle contribute the most to the system error. The experimental results of the two methods are basically identical: the two groups of coupling coefficients both increase with increasing incident pulse energy, and the difference between them remains no more than 6%. The impulse coupling coefficient can reach 260 N·MW-1 for incident pulse energy of 3 to 14 J.