Automatic order reduction of thermo-electric model for micro-ignition unit

In this paper we present an automatic, Krylov-subspace-based order reduction of a thermo-electric model, describing a novel type of micropropulsion device. Model order reduction is essential for achieving easily to evaluate, yet accurate macromodel of the device, and Is needed for simulating both the microthruster array and its driving circuitry. We present numerical simulation results of the full finite element model and the reduced order model that describes the transient thermo-electric behavior. A comparison between Krylov-subspace-based order reduction and order reduction using control theoretical approaches, such as Balanced Truncation Approximation (BTA), has been performed. For the first time a Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO) setup for the reduction algorithm was sufficient to approximate the complete time-dependent temperature distribution of the device.