On a force balance and role of cathode plasma in Hall Effect Thruster

The cathode plasma is a specific transition region in the Hall Effect Thruster (HET) discharge that localizes between the strongly magnetized acceleration layer (magnetic layer or B-layer) and non-magnetized exhaust plume. Cathode plasma provides a flow of electron current that supplies losses in the magnetic layer (due to ionization, excitation, electron-wall interactions, etc.). The electrons' transport in this region occurs in collisionless mode through the excitation of plasma instabilities. This effect is also known as "anomalous transport/conductivity". In this work, we present the results of a 2d (drift-plane) kinetic simulation of the HET discharge, including the outside region that contains cathode plasma. We discuss the process of cathode plasma formation and the mechanisms of "anomalous transport" inside it. We also analyze how fluid force balance emerges from collisionless kinetic approach. The acceleration mechanism in Hall Effect Thrusters (HETs) is commonly described in terms of force balance. Namely, the reactive force produced by accelerated ions has the same value as Ampère's force acting on a drift current loop. This balance written in integral form provides the basis for quantitative estimations of HETs' parameters and scaling models.

Revolutionizing Spaceflight: A Study on Electric Propulsion and Air-Breathing MPDs

Modern liquid-fuel rocket propulsion harbors a number of great limitations. Among those is the weight of fuel, which makes up more than 90% of the mass of the SpaceX Falcon 9 (NASA, 2018). Electric propulsion has been used for decades as an alternative to liquid-fuel rockets due to low propellant requirements and high specific impulse. Although electric thrusters have strictly been used in non-atmospheric conditions, recent innovations attempt to expand its use to airspace. This quasi-experimental study focuses on the creation of an air-breathing magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster, with attempts being made to maximize the efficiency of the engine. Immense safety concerns prevented testing from occurring after the engine was built. However, the estimated performance of the built MPD is compared to a multitude of existing forms of electric propulsion, from Hall-effect thrusters to electrodynamic tethers. The concluding evidence suggests that air-breathing MPDs are not currently viable, high-power photon thrusters being of greater use in atmospheric conditions. Further research focusing on decreasing atmospheric breakdown voltage and increasing mirror reflectance of photon thrusters is suggested.

INFLUENCE OF WALL SCATTERING EFFECT ON ELECTRONS GAS DYNAMICS PARAMETERS IN ELECTRIC PROPULSION THRUSTERS WITH CLOSED ELECTRON DRIFT

The analysis is represented of some works devoted to the mathematical modeling of processes in plasma-ion thrusters and Hall effect thrusters. It is shown that the common in these works is the use of approximate forms of the equations of gas dynamics, which are applicable to the description of relatively dense gases, but not to analyze the processes in the rarefied plasma of electric propulsion thrusters. As a result, the above mathematical models do not represent the processes that are significantly responsible for the values of the thruster operating parameters.Authors try to partially correct this drawback by insertion into the initial approximate forms of the equations written for a point in the plasma volume, the parameters that actually represent the boundary effects and should be written not in the equations of gas dynamics themselves, but in the boundary conditions for these equations.The most complete forms of the necessary equations are given in this paper. It is shown that it is necessary to take into account electrons thermal conductivity as well as at least one (radial-azimuth) component of viscosity tensor to describe the "wall scattering" effect.It is concluded that the most productive approach in mathematical modeling is to write the most complete forms of equations with their subsequent simplification – removing the terms responsible for the processes recognized on the basis of primary numerical estimates as such, which can be neglected.

Axisymmetric Hybrid Plasma Model for Hall Effect Thrusters

Hall Effect Thrusters (HETs) are nowadays widely used for satellite applications because of their efficiency and robustness compared to other electric propulsion devices. Computational modelling of plasma in HETs is interesting for several reasons: it can be used to predict thrusters’ operative life; moreover, it provides a better understanding of the physical behaviour of this device and can be used to optimize the next generation of thrusters. In this work, the discharge within the accelerating channel and near-plume of HETs has been modelled by means of an axisymmetric hybrid approach: a set of fluid equations for electrons has been solved to get electron temperatures, plasma potential and the discharge current, whereas a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) sub-model has been developed to capture the behaviour of neutrals and ions. A two-region electron mobility model has been incorporated. It includes electron–neutral/ion collisions and uses empirical constants, that vary as a continuous function of axial coordinates, to take into account electron–wall collisions and Bohm diffusion/SEE effects. An SPT-100 thruster has been selected for the verification of the model because of the availability of reliable numerical and experimental data. The results of the presented simulations show that the code is able to describe plasma discharge reproducing, with consistency, the physics within the accelerating channel of HETs. A small discrepancy in the experimental magnitude of ions’ expansion, due probably to boundary condition effects, has been found.