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High-voltage discharge characteristics of a hybrid-wall Hall thruster with an aft-loaded magnetic field.
- Source :
-
Acta Astronautica . Feb2023, Vol. 203, p214-225. 12p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Hall thrusters generally use a U-shaped insulated wall to form an annular discharge channel. As high-power and high-specific-impulse Hall thrusters develop, the disadvantages of this conventional topology—in terms of material and mechanical strength, processing, and manufacturing—are gradually being exposed. Therefore, in this study, a new wall material was employed, and its effects were investigated numerically and experimentally. A boron nitride ceramic wall was retained in the strong discharge area owing to its excellent secondary electron emission characteristics; while a metallic wall was applied upstream of the channel, forming a segmented hybrid wall. A Hall thruster with an aft-loaded magnetic field, which offers a long lifetime, was adopted for this study. The particle-in-cell simulation shows that the length of the metallic wall has a significant impact on thruster performance. The same trend was observed in the experiments. Under the optimal metallic wall length, the anode efficiency is improved by approximately 4% compared to that of the ceramic-wall-only case. The physics involved is analyzed and qualified by comparing the simulated and measured results. The findings of this study provide valuable guidance for the optimal design of high-power, high-specific-impulse Hall thrusters. • Metal-ceramic hybrid channel wall improves high-voltage performance of Hall thrusters. • Optimal length of metallic segment exists and is strongly related to magnetic field. • Too long metallic segment augments electron wall loss and then ionization loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00945765
- Volume :
- 203
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Acta Astronautica
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 161209074
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.11.054