中国物理B ›› 2013, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (8): 85203-085203.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/22/8/085203

• PHYSICS OF GASES, PLASMAS, AND ELECTRIC DISCHARGES • 上一篇    下一篇

Numerical study on the electron-wall interaction in a Hall thruster with segmented electrodes placed at the channel exit

卿绍伟a, 鄂鹏b, 段萍c, 徐殿国b   

  1. a Power Engineering Institute, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China;
    b Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China;
    c School of Physics, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
  • 收稿日期:2012-10-23 修回日期:2013-01-07 出版日期:2013-06-27 发布日期:2013-06-27
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. 0903005203189), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11005025, 10975026, and 11275034), the Scientific Research Innovation Foundation of Harbin Institution of Technology, China (Grant No. HITNSRIF2009044), and the Key Project of the Scientific Technology Program of Liaoning Province, China (Grant No. 2011224007).

Numerical study on the electron-wall interaction in a Hall thruster with segmented electrodes placed at the channel exit

Qing Shao-Wei (卿绍伟)a, E Peng (鄂鹏)b, Duan Ping (段萍)c, Xu Dian-Guo (徐殿国)b   

  1. a Power Engineering Institute, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China;
    b Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China;
    c School of Physics, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
  • Received:2012-10-23 Revised:2013-01-07 Online:2013-06-27 Published:2013-06-27
  • Contact: Qing Shao-Wei E-mail:qshaowei@gmail.com
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. 0903005203189), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11005025, 10975026, and 11275034), the Scientific Research Innovation Foundation of Harbin Institution of Technology, China (Grant No. HITNSRIF2009044), and the Key Project of the Scientific Technology Program of Liaoning Province, China (Grant No. 2011224007).

摘要: Electron-wall interaction is always recognized as an important physical problem because of its remarkable influences on thruster discharge and performance. Based on existing theories, an electrode is predicted to weaken electron-wall interaction due to its low secondary electron emission characteristic. In this paper, the electron-wall interaction in an Aton-type Hall thruster with low-emissive electrodes placed near the exit of discharge channel is studied by a fully kinetic particle-in-cell method. The results show that the electron-wall interaction in the region of segmented electrode is indeed weakened, but it is significantly enhanced in the remaining region of discharge channel. It is mainly caused by electrode conductive property which makes equipotential lines convex toward channel exit and even parallel to wall surface in near-wall region; this convex equipotential configuration results in significant physical effects such as repelling electrons, which causes the electrons to move toward the channel center, and the electrons emitted from electrodes to be remarkably accelerated, thereby increasing electron temperature in the discharge channel, etc. Furthermore, the results also indicate that the discharge current in the segmented electrode case is larger than in the non-segmented electrode case, which is qualitatively in accordance with previous experimental results.

关键词: Hall thruster, electron-wall interaction, segmented electrodes, particle simulation

Abstract: Electron-wall interaction is always recognized as an important physical problem because of its remarkable influences on thruster discharge and performance. Based on existing theories, an electrode is predicted to weaken electron-wall interaction due to its low secondary electron emission characteristic. In this paper, the electron-wall interaction in an Aton-type Hall thruster with low-emissive electrodes placed near the exit of discharge channel is studied by a fully kinetic particle-in-cell method. The results show that the electron-wall interaction in the region of segmented electrode is indeed weakened, but it is significantly enhanced in the remaining region of discharge channel. It is mainly caused by electrode conductive property which makes equipotential lines convex toward channel exit and even parallel to wall surface in near-wall region; this convex equipotential configuration results in significant physical effects such as repelling electrons, which causes the electrons to move toward the channel center, and the electrons emitted from electrodes to be remarkably accelerated, thereby increasing electron temperature in the discharge channel, etc. Furthermore, the results also indicate that the discharge current in the segmented electrode case is larger than in the non-segmented electrode case, which is qualitatively in accordance with previous experimental results.

Key words: Hall thruster, electron-wall interaction, segmented electrodes, particle simulation

中图分类号:  (Particle-in-cell method)

  • 52.65.Rr
52.75.-d (Plasma devices)