Three-dimensional measurement of a stationary plasma plume with a Faraday probe array

Zhang, Zhe; Zhang, Zun; Xu, Shuting; Ling, William Yeong Liang; Ren, Junxue; Tang, Haibin

doi:10.1016/j.ast.2020.106480

Cited by 28 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The experimental setup is shown in figure 2. Electrostatic probes are commonly used to diagnose the plasma plume [43][44][45]. A 4 mm tungsten bar coated with an Al 2 O 3 tube was used as a planar electrostatic probe to diagnose the ion current density of the local plasma.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic field deflection in a 100 W Hall thruster with permanent magnets

Zhang

Ren

Tang

et al. 2022

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The compact structure restrains the application of magnetic shielding in low-power Hall thrusters, leading to an asymmetric magnetic field or partial magnetic shielding of the channel wall. This study employs a trim coil to implement an asymmetric magnetic configuration in a 100 W laboratory Hall thruster. The locations of the maximum curvature of magnetic lines are deflected toward the inner and outer channel wall corresponding to the inward and outward deflected magnetic field configurations. Effects of the magnetic field deflection on the position of the ionization zone, efficiency of the thruster, discharge oscillations, and wall erosion are studied. Optical imaging and electrostatic probes are employed to monitor and scan the plasma beam. Experimental results show that the outward deflection induces a change in the magnetic mirror effect and alters the location of the ionization zone. The radial movement of the ionization zone away from the inner channel wall decreases the near-wall conductivity, reducing the election current by 13.5% and promoting the current efficiency. Discharge oscillations are suppressed, and the propellant utilization efficiency is improved by 8.2%. Erosion of the channel wall shows an improvement of 40%. Generally, an outward deflected magnetic configuration can significantly improve the performance of low-power Hall thrusters.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic field deflection in a 100 W Hall thruster with permanent magnets

Zhang

Ren

Tang

et al. 2022

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…The planar FP [5,6,15,16] is a type of diagnostic apparatus used to identify the density of the ion current. Normally, it is composed of a planar collecting electrode (PCE) encompassed within a shield ring (SR).…”

Section: Fpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Chen¹,

He²,

Zuo³

et al. 2022

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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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.

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“…The method is described as follows, firstly the thruster discharge chamber geometry R L , , the thruster power P , in the gas supply flow rate G , m the average ionization rate h of the neutral gas and the plasma density n 0 in the center of the discharge chamber should be determined, and the electron temperature T e and ion temperature T i in the discharge chamber are needed to be estimated as in [25]. Since the plasma equilibrium model contains two equations, solving I sp with a definite solution T T , e i will probably result in the two equations not being satisfied at the same time, so the shooting method is used to determine I .…”

Section: Prediction Of Thruster Specific Impulse and Thruster Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

A plasma equilibrium model for rapid estimation of SF-MPDT performance

Fu¹,

Zhou²,

Wu³

et al. 2021

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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In this work, a zero-dimensional plasma model for self-field magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters (SF-MPDTs) is proposed, which is based on the ion-number balance equation and energy balance equation, and can calculate the average electron temperature and the average ion temperature inside the discharge chamber conveniently. At the same time, the model can also predict the thruster performance, and the thruster performance predicted by the model is compared with experimental results, which proved the reliability of the model.

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Three-dimensional measurement of a stationary plasma plume with a Faraday probe array

Cited by 28 publications

References 22 publications

Magnetic field deflection in a 100 W Hall thruster with permanent magnets

Magnetic field deflection in a 100 W Hall thruster with permanent magnets

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

A plasma equilibrium model for rapid estimation of SF-MPDT performance

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