Onset of the magnetized arc and its effect on the momentum of a low-power two-stage pulsed magneto-plasma-dynamic thruster

Zolotukhin, Denis B.; Daniels, K. P.; Brieda, Lubos; Keidar, Michael

doi:10.1103/physreve.102.021203

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…1 (B and C). Extraction of high ionic currents with activated second stage leads to only moderate increase of the power dissipated in the first stage, while the first-stage discharge burning voltage grows mainly owing to the magnetization of the plasma electrons ( 11 ). We can see from Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the power and propellant storage limitations on small satellites require higher values of TPR and energetic efficiency. Recent tests on design modifications of this thruster ( 11 ) demonstrated that adding a second magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) stage to μCAT allows the thruster to simultaneously achieve higher levels of thrust (~210 μN), TPR (~18 μN/W), and efficiency (~50%). Although it was found ( 11 ) that, after the onset of the magnetized vacuum arc, the performance of the two-stage μCAT-MPD thruster rapidly jumps, it was still unclear how will the performance behave with the further increase of the power delivered to the second stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent tests on design modifications of this thruster ( 11 ) demonstrated that adding a second magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) stage to μCAT allows the thruster to simultaneously achieve higher levels of thrust (~210 μN), TPR (~18 μN/W), and efficiency (~50%). Although it was found ( 11 ) that, after the onset of the magnetized vacuum arc, the performance of the two-stage μCAT-MPD thruster rapidly jumps, it was still unclear how will the performance behave with the further increase of the power delivered to the second stage. The presence of residual plasma after the first stage leads to cathode spot formation when the second-stage voltage is applied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

et al. 2022

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Electric propulsion has become popular nowadays owing to the trend of miniaturizing the size and mass of satellites. However, the main drawback of the most popular approach—Hall thrusters—is that their efficiency and thrust-to-power ratio (TPR) markedly deteriorate when its size and power level are reduced. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach—a minute low-power (<50 W), lightweight (~100 g), two-stage propulsion system. The system is based on a micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster with magnetoplasmadynamic second stage (μCAT-MPD), which achieves the following parameters: a thrust of up to 1.7 mN at a TPR of 37 μN/W and an efficiency of ~50%. A μCAT-MPD system, in addition to “traditional” inverse, displays the anomalous direct (growing) “TPR versus specific impulse I sp ” trend at high I sp values and allows multimodality at high efficiency.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

et al. 2022

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“…The model has been developed by adapting the fully kinetic 2D-axisymmetric PIC code Starfish, which has been used previously to model Hall thruster channels [41], ion thruster plumes [42] and the plume of a magnetically-enhanced vacuum arc thruster [43]. An overview of the simulation domain is shown in figure 1, consisting of a cylindrical 2D region (z, r).…”

Section: Physical and Numerical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully kinetic model of plasma expansion in a magnetic nozzle

Andrews,

Di Fede,

Magarotto

2021

Preprint

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A self-consistent model is presented for performing steady-state fully kinetic Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetised plasma plumes. An energy-based electron reflection prevents the numerical pump instability associated with a typical open-outflow boundary, and is shown to be sufficiently general that both the plume kinetics and plasma potential demonstrate domain independence (within 4%). This is upheld by non-stationary Robin-type boundary conditions on the Poisson's equation, coupled to a capacitive circuit that allows physical evolution of the downstream potential drop in the transient. The method has been validated against experiments, providing results that fall within the uncertainty of measurements. Simulations are then carried out to study collisional xenon discharges into axisymmetric diverging magnetic nozzles. Particular discussion is given to the identification of a potential well arising from charge separation at the edge of the plume, the role of ion-neutral charge exchange, and a three-region piecewise polytropic cooling regime for electrons. The polytropic index is shown to depend on the degree of magnetisation. Specifically, in the region near the thruster outlet, the plume is weakly-magnetised due to the cross-field diffusion of electron-heavy particle collisions. Downstream, a strongly-magnetised region of near-isothermal expansion occurs. Finally, in the detached region, the polytropic index tends to that of a more adiabatic unmagnetised case. With an increasing magnetic nozzle field strength, an inferior limit is found to the average polytropic index of γe ∼ 1.16.

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“…In tokamaks, the appearance of a radial electric field in the H-mode has made it possible to significantly reduce transverse losses (Jain 1993; Burrell 1997), whereas the electric field realized in the Hall thrusters plasma allows for accelerating ions and thereby creates thrust (Boeuf 2017; Zolotukhin et al. 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radial distribution of the plasma potential in a cylindrical plasma column with a longitudinal magnetic field

et al. 2021

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The possibility of controlling the electrostatic field distribution in plasma has yielded wide prospects for modern technologies. As a magnetic field primarily allows for creating electric fields in plasma, it serves as an additional obstacle for the current flow through a medium. In the present paper, an axially symmetric system is considered in which the magnetic field is directed along the axis and concentric electrodes are located at the ends. The electrodes are negatively biased. A model which solves the problem of the radial distribution of the plasma potential inside the cylindrical plasma column supported by the end electrodes is proposed. The most commonly encountered configurations of the electrical connection for the end electrodes are considered, and the particular solutions to the problem of the radial distribution are presented. The contribution of ions and electrons to the transverse conductivity is evaluated in detail. The influence of a thermionic element on the radial profile of the plasma potential is considered. To verify the proposed model, an experimental study of the reflex discharge is carried out with both cold electrodes and a thermionic element on the axis. A comparison of the computational model results with experimental data is given. The presented model makes it possible to solve the problem concerning the plasma potential distribution in the case of an arbitrary number of end electrodes, and also to take into account the inhomogeneity of the distribution of plasma density, neutral gas pressure and electron temperature along the radius.

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Onset of the magnetized arc and its effect on the momentum of a low-power two-stage pulsed magneto-plasma-dynamic thruster

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

Demonstration of electric micropropulsion multimodality

Fully kinetic model of plasma expansion in a magnetic nozzle

Radial distribution of the plasma potential in a cylindrical plasma column with a longitudinal magnetic field

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