Journal
ACTA ASTRONAUTICA
Volume 195, Issue -, Pages 465-480Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.03.016
Keywords
Cusped field thruster; Particle-in-cell simulation; Plasma plume; Magnetic field; Electric propulsion
Categories
Funding
- Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science through the JSPS KAKENHI [JP 17K20144]
- EU
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This study focuses on the design factors of cusped field thrusters, including magnet geometry and operating conditions, and reveals their relationship with thruster performance.
Electric propulsion draws increasing attention in space missions as an alternative to chemical propulsion due to its high efficiency. The cusped field thruster, a class of electrostatic propulsion, is able to operate at different anode voltages and operation points, thereby generating different levels of thrust stably and efficiently. Optimal design points have been selected via multi-objective design optimization with respect to performance measures such as thrust and specific impulse. Particle-in-cell simulation is employed for the selected design points in the present study so as to probe into the physical properties via full kinetic simulation. The influence of the magnet geometry and the resultant magnetic field distribution has been investigated, with particular focus on the effects of the inner/outer magnetic radii and neutralizer current on the plume divergence. The plume divergence has significant impact on the thruster performance. New insights have been gained into the key design factors such as the major influence of the magnet geometry and operating conditions as well as the underlying physical mechanism that crucially accounts for the thruster performance.
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