Performance of a multi-kilowatt non-circular discharge Hall thruster

Pote, Bruce; Hruby, V.; Tedrake, Rachel

doi:10.2514/6.2000-3249

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Such a configuration is very close to that of the so-called linear Hall thrusters. 13,14 The model is implemented in the form of a 1D3V PIC code. A detailed description of the PIC code is given in Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma-sheath instability in Hall thrusters due to periodic modulation of the energy of secondary electrons in cyclotron motion

et al. 2008

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Particle-in-cell simulation of Hall thruster plasmas reveals a plasma-sheath instability manifesting itself as a rearrangement of the plasma sheath near the thruster channel walls accompanied by a sudden change of many discharge parameters. The instability develops when the sheath current as a function of the sheath voltage is in the negative conductivity regime. The major part of the sheath current is produced by beams of secondary electrons counter-streaming between the walls. The negative conductivity is the result of nonlinear dependence of beam-induced secondary electron emission on the plasma potential. The intensity of such emission is defined by the beam energy. The energy of the beam in crossed axial electric and radial magnetic fields is a quasi-periodical function of the phase of cyclotron rotation, which depends on the radial profile of the potential and the thruster channel width. There is a discrete set of stability intervals determined by the final phase of the cyclotron rotation of secondary electrons. As a result, a small variation of the thruster channel width may result in abrupt changes of plasma parameters if the plasma state jumps from one stability interval to another.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma-sheath instability in Hall thrusters due to periodic modulation of the energy of secondary electrons in cyclotron motion

et al. 2008

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“…1 [25]. However, most inverted pendulum thrust stands use parallel linkages to keep the thruster oriented horizontally throughout their range of motion [26,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. All movement of the thrust stand is mechanically blocked except for straight-line deflection parallel to the thrust vector, which yields a number of advantages.…”

Section: Mechanical Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recommended Practice for Thrust Measurement in Electric Propulsion Testing

Polk

Pancotti

Haag

et al. 2017

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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The accurate, direct measurement of thrust or impulse is one of the most critical elements of electric thruster characterization, and it is one of the most difficult measurements to make. This paper summarizes recommended practices for the design, calibration, and operation of pendulum thrust stands, which are widely recognized as the best approach for measuring micronewton-to millinewton-level thrust and micronewton-per-second-level impulse bits. The fundamentals of pendulum thrust stand operation are reviewed, along with the implementation of hanging pendulum, inverted pendulum, and torsional balance configurations. The methods of calibration and recommendations for calibration processes are presented. Sources of error are identified, and methods for data processing and uncertainty analysis are discussed. This review is intended to be the first step toward a recommended practices document to help the community produce high-quality thrust measurements.

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“…Pote et al investigated a magnetic layer type thruster with a racetrack shape. Decreased performance due to the non-uniformity of the magnetic field was identified (Porte at al., 2000). However, the plume from the straight part of the racetrack-shaped head has higher plasma density and ion flux density compared with the circular-shaped head.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plume interference effects of the racetrack-shaped anode-layer Hall thruster system

Miyasaka

NAGAO

FUKAGAWA

et al. 2022

Mechanical Engineering Journal

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Plume interference effects on the discharge characteristics and thruster performance for two heads system were investigated to evaluate the optimum design of the Hall thruster cluster system using the anode-layer head. An anode-layer head with a racetrack shape acceleration channel was designed in this study to better capture the interference effects. The racetrack-shaped head has straight parts and can certainly capture the plume interference effect. The system is termed a side by side (SBS) Hall thruster system because the two heads are positioned in a straight line to sandwich one hollow cathode. The SBS system's discharge characteristics and thruster performance were assessed. It was indicated that the thruster performance was better improved in SBS operations than the sum of the single operations. The thruster performance is also influenced by the interaction of the two heads' magnetic field directions. The effect of the plume interference on the amplitude increase point, which is the inner coil current when the discharge current oscillation amplitude increases rapidly, was evaluated to examine the stable operation range. The increased point also depends on the interaction of the magnetic field directions. These findings suggest that plume interference has an impact on the ionization through the backflow electron. Furthermore, a head susceptible to plume interference substantially impacts the behavior of the total discharge current due to individual head differences.

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Performance of a multi-kilowatt non-circular discharge Hall thruster

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Plasma-sheath instability in Hall thrusters due to periodic modulation of the energy of secondary electrons in cyclotron motion

Plasma-sheath instability in Hall thrusters due to periodic modulation of the energy of secondary electrons in cyclotron motion

Recommended Practice for Thrust Measurement in Electric Propulsion Testing

Plume interference effects of the racetrack-shaped anode-layer Hall thruster system

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