Investigation of short-channel design on performance optimization effect of Hall thruster with large height-radius ratio

In this study, the neutral gas distribution and steady-state discharge under different discharge channel lengths were studied via numerical simulations. The results show that the channel with a length of 22 mm has the advantage of comprehensive discharge performance. At this time, the magnetic field intensity at the anode surface is 10% of the peak magnetic field intensity. Further analysis shows that the high-gas-density zone moves outward due to the shortening of the channel length, which optimizes the matching between the gas flow field and the magnetic field, and thus increases the ionization rate. The outward movement of the main ionization zone also reduces the ion loss on the wall surface. Thus, the propellant utilization efficiency can reach a maximum of 96.8%. Moreover, the plasma potential in the main ionization zone will decrease with the shortening of the channel. The excessively short channel will greatly reduce the voltage utilization efficiency. The thrust is reduced to a minimum of 46.1 mN. Meanwhile, because the anode surface is excessively close to the main ionization zone, the discharge reliability is also difficult to guarantee. It was proved that the performance of Hall thrusters can be optimized by shortening the discharge channel appropriately, and the specific design scheme of short channel of HEP-1350PM was defined, which serves as a reference for the optimization design of Hall thruster with large height-radius ratio. The short-channel design also helps to reduce the thruster axial dimension, further consolidating the advantages of lightweight and large thrust-to-weight ratio of the Hall thruster with large height-radius ratio.

Study on modeling of the air ionization process in the technology of long-term storage of fruit and grape

This article presents the results of modeling the process of air ionization in the technology of long-term storage of fruits and grapes in fruit storage facilities.Also was determined the main forces acting on ions in the ionization zone, in the volume of the fruit storage and on the surface of the processed product in order to establish the ionization modes and design the discharge gap of the ionizer. Based on the results of the research, the issues of the ionizer placement in the volume of the fruit storage have been resolved. The results of theoretical studies have been verified experimentally and the corresponding dependencies of the parameters of ionized air was obtained.

Characterizing Extreme Emission-line Galaxies. I. A Four-zone Ionization Model for Very High-ionization Emission*

Stellar population models produce radiation fields that ionize oxygen up to O+2, defining the limit of standard H ii region models (<54.9 eV). Yet, some extreme emission-line galaxies, or EELGs, have surprisingly strong emission originating from much higher ionization potentials. We present UV HST/COS and optical LBT/MODS spectra of two nearby EELGs that have very high-ionization emission lines (e.g., He ii λλ1640,4686 C iv λλ1548,1550, [Fe v]λ4227, [Ar iv]λλ4711,4740). We define a four-zone ionization model that is augmented by a very high-ionization zone, as characterized by He+2 (>54.4 eV). The four-zone model has little to no effect on the measured total nebular abundances, but does change the interpretation of other EELG properties: we measure steeper central ionization gradients; higher volume-averaged ionization parameters; and higher central T e , n e , and log U values. Traditional three-zone estimates of the ionization parameter can underestimate the average log U by up to 0.5 dex. Additionally, we find a model-independent dichotomy in the abundance patterns, where the α/H abundances are consistent but N/H, C/H, and Fe/H are relatively deficient, suggesting these EELGs are α/Fe-enriched by more than three times. However, there still is a high-energy ionizing photon production problem (HEIP3). Even for such α/Fe enrichment and very high log U s, photoionization models cannot reproduce the very high-ionization emission lines observed in EELGs.

A Practical Algorithm for Calculating the Impulse Earthing Resistances of Vertical Earthing Electrodes

An algorithm is proposed in this paper for calculating the impulse earthing resistances of vertical earthing electrodes. The proposed algorithm employs the average potential method to derive the formula of the low current earthing resistance. Unlike the previous algorithm, the soil ionization effect under high impulse current is taken into account by introducing a nonlinear characteristic to represent the relationship between the electric field and current density in the ionization zone around the earthing electrode. On the basis of the nonlinear characteristic, the effective radius is evaluated for the equivalent earthing electrode. Then, the impulse earthing resistance can be calculated by substituting the effective radius into the formula of the low current earthing resistance. A comparison is also made between calculated and measured results to confirm the validity of the proposed algorithm. Keywords: Earthing Resistance; Vertical Earthing Electrode; Average Potential Integral; Soil Ionization; Current Density;

Asteroseismic analysis of 15 solar-like oscillating evolved stars

ABSTRACT Asteroseismology using space-based telescopes is vital to our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. CoRoT, Kepler, and TESS space telescopes have detected large numbers of solar-like oscillating evolved stars. Solar-like oscillation frequencies have an important role in the determination of fundamental stellar parameters; in the literature, the relations between the two is established by the so-called scaling relations. In this study, we analyse data obtained from the observation of 15 evolved solar-like oscillating stars using the Kepler and ground-based telescopes. The main purpose of the study is to determine very precisely the fundamental parameters of evolved stars by constructing interior models using asteroseismic parameters. We also fit the reference frequencies of models to the observational reference frequencies caused by the He ii ionization zone. The 15 evolved stars are found to have masses and radii within ranges of 0.79–1.47 M⊙ and 1.60–3.15 R⊙, respectively. Their model ages range from 2.19 to 12.75 Gyr. It is revealed that fitting reference frequencies typically increase the accuracy of asteroseismic radius, mass, and age. The typical uncertainties of mass and radius are ∼3–6 and ∼1–2 per cent, respectively. Accordingly, the differences between the model and literature ages are generally only a few Gyr.

Investigations on the Performance of Various Horizontal Ground Electrodes

Experimental work on grounding systems has shown that the characteristics of grounding systems under high impulse conditions are different than those obtained at steady-state conditions. Investigations on the grounding systems under high impulse conditions make it evident that ionization process could occur in soil, due to field enhancement in air voids in the soil. This process can lead to an ionization zone that reduces the impulse resistance of grounding systems (due to an enlargement of a virtually increased cross-sectional area) from its steady state. There have been many studies pointing towards the effect of various soils and the ground electrode’s arrangement on the reduction of impulse resistance from its steady state, and its decrease with increasing currents. It was, however, noted that very few studies on the effect of the configurations of horizontal ground electrodes have been performed by field measurements before. This work presents the experimental and simulated work of various configurations of ground electrodes, with spikes which are thought to enhance the ionization process in soil. In this paper, field measurement was set up, and the results of field measurements were applied with finite element method (FEM) to obtain the electric field values. It was demonstrated that with the addition of spike on the electrodes, a high electric field was computed. The time to peak current, discharged time and impulse impedance were also analyzed for various horizontal ground electrodes.

Tunneling Calculation in the Field Ion Microscope

In this work we describe calculations of tunneling rate constants for the Field Ion Microscope (FIM) using one-dimensional model potential that simulates the ionization process in a FIM. We obtain expressions for the ionization rate constant (ionization probability per unit of time) of inert gas atoms as a function of their position above the surface. In order to calculate the probability of barrier penetration we have used the semiclassical (JWKB) approximation. We have also calculated ionization zone widths as the distance between points where ionization rate is a maximum and half of this value. An application to helium as the imaging gas is presented to highlight the power of the method.

Detecting shock waves in non-fundamental mode RR Lyrae using large sample of spectra in SDSS and LAMOST

Steps toward the nature inside RR Lyrae variables can not only improve our understanding of variable stars but also innovate the precision when we use them as tracers to map the structure of the universe. In this work, we develop a hand-crafted one-dimensional pattern recognition pipeline to fetch out the "first apparitions", the most prominent observational characteristic of shock. We report the first detection of hydrogen emission lines in the first-overtone and multi-mode RR Lyrae variables. We find that there is an anti-correlation between the intensity and the radial velocity of the emission signal, which is possibly caused by opacity changing in the helium ionization zone. Moreover, we find one RRd star with hydrogen emission that possibly shows Blazhko-type modulations. According to our discoveries, with an enormous volume of upcoming data releases of variable stars and spectra, it may become possible to build up the bridge between shock waves and big problems like the Blazhko effect in non-fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars.

About the existence of warm H-rich pulsating white dwarfs

Context. The possible existence of warm (Teff ∼ 19 000 K) pulsating DA white dwarf (WD) stars, hotter than ZZ Ceti stars, was predicted in theoretical studies more than 30 yr ago. These studies reported the occurrence of g-mode pulsational instabilities due to the κ mechanism acting in the partial ionization zone of He below the H envelope in models of DA WDs with very thin H envelopes (MH/M⋆ ≲ 10−10). However, to date, no pulsating warm DA WD has been discovered, despite the varied theoretical and observational evidence suggesting that a fraction of WDs should be formed with a range of very low H content. Aims. We re-examine the pulsational predictions for such WDs on the basis of new full evolutionary sequences. We analyze all the warm DAs observed by the TESS satellite up to Sector 9 in order to search for the possible pulsational signal. Methods. We computed WD evolutionary sequences of masses 0.58 and 0.80 M⊙ with H content in the range −14.5 ≲ log(MH/M⋆)≲ − 10, appropriate for the study of pulsational instability of warm DA WDs. Initial models were extracted from progenitors that were evolved through very late thermal pulses on the early cooling branch. We use LPCODE stellar code into which we have incorporated a new full-implicit treatment of time-dependent element diffusion to precisely model the H–He transition zone in evolving WD models with very low H content. The nonadiabatic pulsations of our warm DA WD models were computed in the effective temperature range of 30 000 − 10 000 K, focusing on ℓ = 1 g modes with periods in the range 50 − 1500 s. Results. We find that traces of H surviving the very late thermal pulse float to the surface, eventually forming thin, growing pure H envelopes and rather extended H–He transition zones. We find that such extended transition zones inhibit the excitation of g modes due to partial ionization of He below the H envelope. Only in the cases where the H–He transition is assumed much more abrupt than predicted by diffusion do models exhibit pulsational instability. In this case, instabilities are found only in WD models with H envelopes in the range of −14.5 ≲ log(MH/M⋆)≲ − 10 and at effective temperatures higher than those typical for ZZ Ceti stars, in agreement with previous studies. None of the 36 warm DAs observed so far by TESS satellite are found to pulsate. Conclusions. Our study suggests that the nondetection of pulsating warm DAs, if WDs with very thin H envelopes do exist, could be attributed to the presence of a smooth and extended H–He transition zone. This could be considered as indirect proof that element diffusion indeed operates in the interior of WDs.

Fundamental properties of Kepler and CoRoT targets – IV. Masses and radii from frequencies of minimum Δν and their implications

ABSTRACT Recently, by analysing the oscillation frequencies of 90 stars, Yıldız, Çelik Orhan & Kayhan have shown that the reference frequencies (νmin0, νmin1, and νmin2) derived from glitches due to He ii ionization zone have very strong diagnostic potential for the determination of their effective temperatures. In this study, we continue to analyse the same stars and compute their mass, radius, and age from different scaling relations including relations based on νmin0, νmin1, and νmin2. For most of the stars, the masses computed using νmin0 and νmin1 are very close to each other. For 38 stars, the difference between these masses is less than 0.024 M$\odot$. The radii of these stars from νmin0 and νmin1 are even closer, with differences of less than 0.007 R$\odot$. These stars may be the most well known solar-like oscillating stars and deserve to be studied in detail. The asteroseismic expressions we derive for mass and radius show slight dependence on metallicity. We therefore develop a new method for computing initial metallicity from this surface metallicity by taking into account the effect of microscopic diffusion. The time dependence of initial metallicity shows some very interesting features that may be important for our understanding of chemical enrichment of Galactic Disc. According to our findings, every epoch of the disc has its own lowest and highest values for metallicity. It seems that rotational velocity is inversely proportional to 1/2 power of age as given by the Skumanich relation.