Development of the MiXI Thruster with the ARCH Discharge

Samples, Stephen; Wirz, Richard E.

doi:10.1088/2516-1067/ab906d

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The electrostatic 'sheath refection confinement' could further reduce the electron loss by adding a negative electrostatic bias to the chamber walls, which has been used in the cesium magneto-electrostatic ion thruster [16]. Experiments show that the thruster with ARCH discharge could achieve 59% cathode-free total discharge efficiency at the xenon beam current of 23.7 mA with filament cathodes and low temperature operation, corresponding to a discharge loss of 226 W A −1 and propellant utilization of 72% [17]. Li and Samples have presented several thruster sensitivity studies including neutral injection variation, outer magnet displacement, and discharge chamber aspect ratio [11,17], which provides actionable recommendations for further improving the thruster performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experiments show that the thruster with ARCH discharge could achieve 59% cathode-free total discharge efficiency at the xenon beam current of 23.7 mA with filament cathodes and low temperature operation, corresponding to a discharge loss of 226 W A −1 and propellant utilization of 72% [17]. Li and Samples have presented several thruster sensitivity studies including neutral injection variation, outer magnet displacement, and discharge chamber aspect ratio [11,17], which provides actionable recommendations for further improving the thruster performance. However, the investigation into two primary methods for the ARCH discharge confinement, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revealing the plasma confinement behavior of an axial ring cusp hybrid discharge in a miniature ion thruster using PIC/MCC simulation

Liu

Wang

et al. 2023

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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Micro DC ion thrusters have broad application prospects as the propulsion system of micro spacecrafts due to their advantages of high discharge reliability and efficiency. The experiments in the literature show that the plasma discharge under the Axial Ring Cusp Hybrid (ARCH) magnetic field has higher discharge efficiency in the discharge chamber of micro DC ion thruster. In this paper, a 2d-3v axisymmetric particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) numerical model is developed for the ARCH discharge. This model takes the thermal electron emission including the Schottky effect, various collision processes including the Bohm-type anomalous conductivity and the uneven background gas density distribution in the cathode-anode gap into account. The spatial distributions of plasma characteristics are presented and the advantages of ARCH discharge compared with traditional 3-Ring discharge in the discharge chamber of the micro DC ion thruster are analyzed. The longer electron path length and the change of ionization region improve the discharge efficiency in small-scale discharge. Two primary methods for the discharge confinement in the miniature ion thrusters, that is, the magneto-static “cusp confinement” through magnetic cusps and the electrostatic “sheath refection confinement” through the backplate with the lower potential are investigated. The sensitivity of macroscopic current characteristics and microscopic plasma characteristics in the ARCH discharge to the magnetic field strength and backplate biased potential are explored. It is found that there is an optimal magnetic field to maximize the utilization of propellant and minimize the discharge loss. The electrostatic “sheath refection confinement” is conducive to the reduction of discharge loss, however, it is also accompanied by the decline of propellant utilization. The above results provide a further support for the design optimization of the micro DC ion thruster discharge chamber.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the plasma confinement behavior of an axial ring cusp hybrid discharge in a miniature ion thruster using PIC/MCC simulation

Liu

Wang

et al. 2023

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…The development of propulsion systems for small spacecraft is also an extremely active research area; many low-thrust propulsion systems for small spacecraft such as ionic-liquid electrospray thrusters [11,12], film-evaporating water microcapillaries [13], miniaturized ion thrusters [14], and plasma thrusters [15,16] are actively under development and will likely have in-space demonstrations in the near future. As such, the development of thrust estimation methods that leverage orbital maneuvers is desired as they can be applied to a wider range of missions and avoid uncertainties associated with the thruster lever arm for small spacecraft.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Segmented Reconstruction of Low-Acceleration Orbital Maneuvers

Jia-Richards

2023

Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics

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This paper considers the problem of inferring the acceleration acting on a spacecraft in a near-circular orbit around a large planetary body when the acceleration is known to act in the along-track direction. A segmented approach is analyzed where the acceleration profile over a given period of time is approximated as a piecewise-constant profile. Noisy measurements of the spacecraft’s position are collected throughout the acceleration profile, from which the constant acceleration for each segment of the piecewise-constant profile can be inferred. The primary contribution of this work is an analytical approximation for the sensitivity of each measurement with respect to the constant acceleration of each segment. The resulting analytically approximated sensitivity matrix enables an analytical reconstruction of the acceleration profile given a numerically simulated reference trajectory. Applications of the segmented approach for thrust inference for both discontinuous and continuous thrust profiles are demonstrated. In particular, the reconstruction of a simulated thruster degradation profile over the course of 60 h is shown.

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Effects of initial ion velocity, magnetic field and plasma density profiles in simulating the plasma plume in a Hall thruster

Singh

Malik

2023

J Astrophys Astron

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Development of the MiXI Thruster with the ARCH Discharge

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

Revealing the plasma confinement behavior of an axial ring cusp hybrid discharge in a miniature ion thruster using PIC/MCC simulation

Revealing the plasma confinement behavior of an axial ring cusp hybrid discharge in a miniature ion thruster using PIC/MCC simulation

Segmented Reconstruction of Low-Acceleration Orbital Maneuvers

Effects of initial ion velocity, magnetic field and plasma density profiles in simulating the plasma plume in a Hall thruster

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