JIEDI Tool: Numerical Life Qualification Tool for Ion Engine Optics

Nakano, Masahiro; Kajimura, Yoshihiro; Funaki, Ikkoh

doi:10.2322/tastj.10.pb_85

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…Ion-optics simulations were performed using the codes developed for the JAXA Ion Engine Development Initiatives (JIEDI) tool. 17 The details of the JIEDI tool and its application to grid erosion analysis have been reported previously. 17,18 The JIEDI tool is a set of Fortran90 codes: a mesh generation code, a neutral particle code, and an ion-optics code.…”

Section: B Assumption and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Numerical simulation of full-aperture-pair ion optics in a miniature ion thruster

et al. 2018

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The 211-aperture-pair two-grid ion optics of a miniature ion thruster is numerically simulated. Since the plasma in the miniature ion thruster is too inhomogeneous to introduce mirror or translational boundary conditions between apertures, all the apertures of the grid system are considered. The simulation is self-consistent, the ion current profile in the discharge chamber plasma is given by the particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision algorithm calculations, and all the ion beams extracted from the full-aperture-pair array were tracked including charge-exchange ions. A scheme for the construction of the full-aperture-pair simulation domain is proposed based on the array of a six-fold hexagonal single-aperture-pair simulation domain, which can be extended to other numbers of aperture pairs. Numerical results on accel impingement current and ion-beam profile are compared to experimental data and shown to be in reasonable agreement. Furthermore, the full-aperture-pair ion-optics model is compared with the single-aperture-pair ion-optics models used in the majority of previous ion-optics simulations, which showed that the full-aperture-pair ion-optics model yielded the most accurate predictions. These results suggest that the ion thruster grid system using an inhomogeneous plasma source can be designed more accurately and effectively using full-aperture-pair ion-optics simulations.

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Section: B Assumption and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…17 The details of the JIEDI tool and its application to grid erosion analysis have been reported previously. 17,18 The JIEDI tool is a set of Fortran90 codes: a mesh generation code, a neutral particle code, and an ion-optics code. Figure 4 depicts a portion of the multi-aperture system of the MIPS ion optics.…”

Section: B Assumption and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical simulation of full-aperture-pair ion optics in a miniature ion thruster

et al. 2018

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“…The boundary conditions for the ion and neutral macro-particles are shown in figure 1(a). From the upstream boundary, located inside the discharge chamber, ions and neutrals are injected thermally, thus simulating the incoming particle flux from the inner ionization chamber (many simulation codes assume a sonic ion injection here, thus missing the pre-sheath formation [13,30]). At the material wall boundaries of the screen and acceleration grids, neutral macro-particles are reflected diffusely and ions are recombined into neutrals, and re-injected into the domain following a Lambertian emission law [31] with full energy accommodation with the wall.…”

Section: Boundary Conditions and Model Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and neutralization of electric charge and current of an ion thruster plume

Perales-Díaz¹,

Cichocki²,

Merino³

et al. 2021

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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A 3D hybrid model is introduced and applied to the simulation of the xenon plasma plume extraction, formation, and neutralization in a gridded ion thruster. The acceleration voltage is 1100 V and the inflow Xe+ per hole ranges from 0.07 to 0.92 μg s−1. While ions and neutrals are treated with a particle-in-cell formulation, electrons are modeled as two independent isothermal populations: one inside the discharge chamber and one in the plume. The definition of a thermalized potential allows to solve the electron currents in the high-conductivity limit of the Ohm’s law. The space charge neutralization distance is observed to be short and thus essentially independent of the acceleration grid-neutralizer distance, which is varied from 10 to 25 mm axially. However, this position strongly affects the electric current neutralization paths in the near plume for each ion beamlet. Electron inertial forces are shown to be comparable to collisional forces in certain plasma regions. A semi-analytical 1D fluid model of the plume, matched to the hybrid model, allows to complete the far plume expansion down to infinity. Grids with an infinite and finite number of apertures are simulated and compared with each other and with the 1D model. The numerically obtained divergence angle of the ion plume is compared with experimental measurements, observing relative errors of around 7% in the position of the optimal perveance, and smaller than 4% in the divergence angle average value.

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“…To compare the simulation results with those of standardsized microwave ion engines, we also evaluated the change in the extraction-ion beam performance of the 10 ion engine using the simulation results. 6)…”

Section: Nominal Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Variation and Movement of Extraction-Ion Beam by Grid Wear in Miniature Ion Engines

Nakano

Koizumi

2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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This paper focuses on the variation in extraction-ion beam performances in miniature ion engines due to grid erosion. Because speed and cost are very important issues in microspacecraft development, we replace time-consuming grid wear tests with numerical simulations using the JAXA Ion Engine Development Initiatives (JIEDI) tool. By comparing the results obtained for a miniature ion engine with those of a 10 ion engine, we observe significant extraction-ion beam performance degradation in the miniature ion engine. Because miniature ion engines tend to omit gimballing devices to save their masses, we also present a numerical simulation for predicting erosion-induced movement in the thrust-vector direction for the estimation of the accumulation of thrust-vector misalignment toque, which must be unloaded by firing low-Isp chemical thrusters. Using the JIEDI tool, we can successfully calculate its movement by grid erosion and obtain the averaged thrustvector direction during the operation of the ion engine. This time-averaged thrust-vector direction provides the best initial thruster setting angle for each miniature ion engine.

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JIEDI Tool: Numerical Life Qualification Tool for Ion Engine Optics

Cited by 5 publications

References 4 publications

Numerical simulation of full-aperture-pair ion optics in a miniature ion thruster

Numerical simulation of full-aperture-pair ion optics in a miniature ion thruster

Formation and neutralization of electric charge and current of an ion thruster plume

Study on Variation and Movement of Extraction-Ion Beam by Grid Wear in Miniature Ion Engines

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