Magnetic mirror effect in a cylindrical Hall thruster

Jiang, Yiwei; Tang, Haibin; Ren, Junxue; Li, Min; Cao, Jinbin

doi:10.1088/1361-6463/aa9e3e

Cited by 26 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…To quantitatively study the ion acceleration mechanisms in the magnetic nozzle, a home-developed 2D axisymmetric PIC model reported in our previous work [16] has been modified to conduct this research. The same PIC package has been successfully adapted to model other electric propulsion devices such as unmagnetized plumes [17], Hall thrusters [18], MPD thrusters [19] and hallow cathodes [20].…”

Section: The Fully-kinetic Pic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fully-kinetic investigations on the ion acceleration mechanisms in an electron-driven magnetic nozzle

Chen

Wang

Ren

et al. 2022

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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A fully kinetic particle-in-cell study is conducted to investigate the ion acceleration mechanisms in an electron-driven magnetic nozzle. All five powers contributing to the axial kinetic energy of ions are derived and evaluated under different magnetic field strength and inlet density profiles. Among them, the electrothermal and electromagnetic acceleration contributes over 98% of the total accelerating power. The dominating acceleration mechanism is found to be the electrothermal acceleration, covering two thirds of the axial accelerating power in the electron-driven magnetic nozzle. The electromagnetic mechanism is found to originate from four sources, among which the major accelerating and decelerating one are the diamagnetic acceleration driven by radial gradient of electron pressure and the E×B mechanism due to the inward ion detachment. The power induced by the viscous-stress of electrons contributes 14%~23% of the decelerating power, indicating the non-negligible influence of FELR effect on the ion acceleration. Results indicates that the net effect of electromagnetic mechanism can even be decelerating when the magnetic field is too high with a uniform inlet. Finally, the conversion efficiency from the inlet thermal energy to the ion axial kinetic energy is derived and evaluated, which can reach as high as 65.0% under 0.25T with a Gaussian-profile inlet. Raising the magnetic field to 0.75T or a uniform inlet will decrease the conversion efficiency.

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Section: The Fully-kinetic Pic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fully-kinetic investigations on the ion acceleration mechanisms in an electron-driven magnetic nozzle

Chen

Wang

Ren

et al. 2022

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

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“…Numerical simulation methods have been widely used in many typical Hall effect thrusters (HETs) [23,24] and thrusters with anode layer (TALs) [25], as well as in other electric propulsion devices, including cylinder Hall thrusters [26], ion thrusters [27], arc thrusters [28], and hollow cathodes [29][30][31]. In this paper, a particle-in-cell plus Monte Carlo (PIC-MCC) model is established on the basic structure of CFPT-60.…”

Section: Pic Numerical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnet stage optimization of 5 kW multi-cusped field thruster

Hu¹,

Yu²,

Shen³

2020

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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The multi-cusped field thruster is a unique electric thruster device, which has many advantages such as long lifetime, large-range thrust throttling ability, high thrust density, and low mass. The thruster employs several alternating polarity permanent magnets to create a periodic magnetic field with several cusps. Previous studies have indicated that the basic ionization and acceleration processes are directly related to the electron motion behavior, which mainly depends on the magnetic field characteristics. The magnet number and magnet stage length are two key magnetic field parameters that have important effects on the thruster performances. In this paper, both the magnet number and magnet stage length parameters are studied for the optimization of a 5 kW multi-cusped field thruster. The results indicate that the three-stage thruster has a better electron confinement than the two-stage thruster. It has lower ion energy loss at the wall, and shows a higher ionization rate. Therefore, the three-stage magnetic field is a superior magnetic field configuration. Besides, the three-stage magnetic field simulation results indicate that an optimal accelerating electric field distribution and ionization region distribution could be obtained when the magnet length ratio is 78:25:20.

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“…With the rapidly increasing number of small satellites, electric propulsion (EP) technology has stood out rather prominently [1,2]. Thrusters such as the ion thruster, Hall thruster, and pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) have a higher specific impulse than conventional chemical rockets [3][4][5], which makes them directly applicable in ambitious missions such as satellite internet and deep space exploration [6,7]. In 2019, China launched the first Magpie-1 A satellite for the Magpie Constellation plan with a typical form of EP (pulsed plasma thruster, or PPT) onboard.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-resolved investigation of the asymmetric plasma plume in a pulsed plasma thruster

Zhang¹,

Zhang²,

Ling³

et al. 2020

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Electric propulsion (EP) has become one of the most promising options for the motion control of small satellites. The physics behind the ejected plasma plumes of EP thrusters has attracted significant interest due to their interactions with the critical components of satellites. Axisymmetric plume assumptions are widely used in simulations and plume diagnostics. However, we show here that the plasma plume of a parallel-plate pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) is asymmetrically distributed along the centerline of the electrodes, contrary to the inherent axisymmetric assumption. To study this asymmetric plume structure in depth, a triple Langmuir probe was used to obtain the electron density of a two-dimensional plume area over the operating period of a PPT. The electron density results show that the plasma forms an 'I' shape plume at 2 µs after the initial main discharge. However, over time, the plume appears to cant significantly towards the cathode. The physical mechanism behind the asymmetric plume structure is studied through inter-electrode magnetic probe measurements and plasma trajectory analyses. The successive magnetic profiles indicate that the plasma is accelerated by a non-symmetrical electromagnetic force between the electrodes, which results in the plasma exhausting out with an entirely asymmetric distribution shifted upwards towards the cathode. This was also verified using varying sets of discharge voltage experiments. This work also indicates that care must be taken in the selection of the measurement points in PPT plume diagnostics. The measurement points should be chosen above the centerline of the PPT exit as the plasma parameters along the centerline may not be the most energetic part as previously believed. Furthermore, the asymmetric acceleration component of the electromagnetic force between the electrodes can enlighten us in the design of electromagnetic field configurations for future discharge channel optimization.

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Magnetic mirror effect in a cylindrical Hall thruster

Cited by 26 publications

References 26 publications

The fully-kinetic investigations on the ion acceleration mechanisms in an electron-driven magnetic nozzle

The fully-kinetic investigations on the ion acceleration mechanisms in an electron-driven magnetic nozzle

Magnet stage optimization of 5 kW multi-cusped field thruster

Time-resolved investigation of the asymmetric plasma plume in a pulsed plasma thruster

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