Investigation into the thermal effect of the LIPS-200 ion thruster plume

Abstract

The distributions of the thermal effects of the ion thruster plume are essential for estimating the influence of the thruster plume, improving the layout of the spacecraft, and the thermal shielding of critical sensitive components. In order to obtain the heat flow distribution in the plume of the LIPS-200 xenon ion thruster, an experimental study of the thermal effects of the plume was conducted in this work with a total heat flow sensor and a radiant heat flow sensor over an axial distance of 0.5–0.9 m and an angle of 0°–60° of the thruster. Combined with a Faraday probe and a retarding potential analyzer, the thermal accommodation coefficient of the sensor surface in the plume is available. The results of the experiment show that the xenon ion thruster plume heat flow is mainly concentrated within the range of 15°. The total and radial heat flow of the plume downstream of the thruster gradually decreases along the axial and radial directions, with the corresponding values of 11.78 kW/m2 and 0.3 kW/m2 for the axial 0.5 m position respectively. At the same position, the radiation heat flow accounts for a very small part of the total heat flow, approximately 3%–5%. The thermal accommodation factor is 0.72–0.99 over the measured region. Furthermore, the PIC and DSMC methods based on the Maxwell thermal accommodation coefficient model (EX-PWS) show a maximum error of 28.6% between simulation and experiment for LIPS-200 ion thruster plume heat flow, which on one hand provides an experimental basis for studying the interaction between the ion thruster and the spacecraft, on the other hand provides optimization of the ion thruster plume simulation model.

Study of beam divergence and thrust vector eccentricity characteristics of the Hall thruster based on dual Faraday probe array planes and its applications

“…However, a number of problems [4][5][6] must be addressed and resolved if Hall thrusters are to be successfully integrated into spacecraft. One of these issues is the interaction of its beam with the spacecraft.…”

Ion Electric Propulsion System Electric Breakdown Problems: Causes, Impacts and Protection Strategies

“…Therefore, as a low propellant consumption engine, the electric thrusters receive much attention and have been widely studied in the last decade, which include Resistojet, Vacuum arc, Electrospray, Ion thrusters, Hall thrusters, Arcjets, etc. [11]- [14] Among the various electric thruster designs, Hall thruster and ion thruster (also called gridded-ion thruster) are the most developed and popular electric thrusters [15]. Compared with Hall thrusters, ion thrusters have a higher specific impulse, a higher power ratio and moderate-thrust, and are widely used in spacecraft attitude control, orbit keeping, orbital transfer and orientation of spacecraft [16], [17].…”

Special issue on selected papers from CEPC 2021

“…This special issue is organized from the papers presented in the CEPC 2021. Interested readers can find the papers concerning investigations of plume thermal effect of the LIPS-200 ion thruster [1], the characteristics of non-Maxwellian magnetized sheath in Hall thruster acceleration region [2], the effect of anode axial position on the performance of a miniaturized cylindrical Hall thruster with a cusptype magnetic field [3], early experimental investigation of the C12A7 hollow cathode fed on iodine [4], experimental study on the degradation of the C12A7 hollow cathode [5], numerical simulation of the start-up process of a miniature ion thruster [6], micro-impulse and plasma plume produced by irradiating aluminum target with nanosecond laser pulses in double-pulse scheme [7], simulation of * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.…”