中国物理B ›› 2018, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (8): 85204-085204.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/27/8/085204

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

Influence of channel length on discharge performance of anode layer Hall thruster studied by particle-in-cell simulation

Xi-Feng Cao(曹希峰), Hui Liu(刘辉), Wen-Jia Jiang(蒋文嘉), Zhong-Xi Ning(宁中喜), Run Li(黎润), Da-Ren Yu(于达仁)   

  1. Laboratory of Plasma Propulsion, Harbin Institute of Technology, HIT, Harbin, China
  • 收稿日期:2018-03-22 修回日期:2018-04-23 出版日期:2018-08-05 发布日期:2018-08-05
  • 通讯作者: Hui Liu, Zhong-Xi Ning E-mail:thruster@126.com;ningzx@hit.edu.cn

Influence of channel length on discharge performance of anode layer Hall thruster studied by particle-in-cell simulation

Xi-Feng Cao(曹希峰), Hui Liu(刘辉), Wen-Jia Jiang(蒋文嘉), Zhong-Xi Ning(宁中喜), Run Li(黎润), Da-Ren Yu(于达仁)   

  1. Laboratory of Plasma Propulsion, Harbin Institute of Technology, HIT, Harbin, China
  • Received:2018-03-22 Revised:2018-04-23 Online:2018-08-05 Published:2018-08-05
  • Contact: Hui Liu, Zhong-Xi Ning E-mail:thruster@126.com;ningzx@hit.edu.cn

摘要: Hall thruster has the advantages of simple structure, high specific impulse, high efficiency, and long service life, and so on. It is suitable for spacecraft attitude control, North and South position keeping, and other track tasks. The anode layer Hall thruster is a kind of Hall thruster. The thruster has a longer anode area and a relatively short discharge channel. In this paper, the effect of the channel length on the performance of the anode layer Hall thruster is simulated by the PIC simulation method. The simulation results show that the change of the channel length has significant effect on the plasma parameters, such as potential and plasma density and so on. The ionization region mainly concentrates at the hollow anode outlet position, and can gradually move toward the channel outlet as the channel length decreases. The collision between the ions and the wall increases with the channel length increasing. So the proper shortening of the channel length can increase the life of the thruster. Besides, the results show that there is a best choice of the channel length for obtaining the best performance. In this paper, thruster has the best performance under a channel length of 5 mm.

关键词: anode layer Hall thruster, channel length, potential

Abstract: Hall thruster has the advantages of simple structure, high specific impulse, high efficiency, and long service life, and so on. It is suitable for spacecraft attitude control, North and South position keeping, and other track tasks. The anode layer Hall thruster is a kind of Hall thruster. The thruster has a longer anode area and a relatively short discharge channel. In this paper, the effect of the channel length on the performance of the anode layer Hall thruster is simulated by the PIC simulation method. The simulation results show that the change of the channel length has significant effect on the plasma parameters, such as potential and plasma density and so on. The ionization region mainly concentrates at the hollow anode outlet position, and can gradually move toward the channel outlet as the channel length decreases. The collision between the ions and the wall increases with the channel length increasing. So the proper shortening of the channel length can increase the life of the thruster. Besides, the results show that there is a best choice of the channel length for obtaining the best performance. In this paper, thruster has the best performance under a channel length of 5 mm.

Key words: anode layer Hall thruster, channel length, potential

中图分类号:  (Ion and plasma propulsion)

  • 52.75.Di
52.65.-y (Plasma simulation) 52.65.Pp (Monte Carlo methods) 52.65.Rr (Particle-in-cell method)