Numerical investigation of internal plasma currents in a magnetic nozzle

Abstract

Two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of an electrodeless plasma thruster, which uses a magnetic nozzle, were conducted to investigate the thrust generation induced by the internal plasma current. The results clearly show that the E Â B and diamagnetic current densities are the major components of the internal plasma current. The simulated pressure structures reproduced the experimentally observed structures well. The results for various magnetic field strengths reveal that the E Â B effect decreases, and the diamagnetic effect becomes dominant with an increase in the magnetic field strength; this demonstrates the significant contribution of the diamagnetic effect in thrust generation.

Vector Resolved Energy Fluxes and Collisional Energy Losses in Magnetic Nozzle Radiofrequency Plasma Thrusters

“…We have employed two-dimensional (x-y) and bidirectional calculation models to reduce the calculation cost [19,30]. Although bidirectional thrusters are different from the common thruster, they are proposed for space debris removal [31].…”

“…The plasma kinetics in the thruster is analyzed using particle-in-cell and Monte Carlo collisions (PIC-MCC) techniques. Details of the calculation model and simulation method were given in previous papers [19,30,32,33], and a brief description is written in this paper.…”

“…The plasma is accelerated through the magnetic nozzle toward the downstream direction and obtains the axial momentum. In the magnetic nozzle, an azimuthal current is induced by the diamagnetic effect and produces the axial Lorentz force with the radial magnetic field [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Vector resolved energy fluxes and collisional energy losses in magnetic nozzle radiofrequency plasma thrusters

“…We have employed two-dimensional ( -) and bidirectional calculation model to reduce the calculation cost [15,26]. Although bidirectional thrusters are different from the common thruster, they are proposed for the space debris removal [27].…”

“…The plasma is accelerated through the magnetic nozzle toward the downstream direction and obtains the axial momentum. In the magnetic nozzle, an azimuthal current is induced by the diamagnetic effect and produces the axial Lorentz force with the radial magnetic field [11][12][13][14][15].…”