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Chin. Phys. B, 2018, Vol. 27(10): 105209    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/27/10/105209
PHYSICS OF GASES, PLASMAS, AND ELECTRIC DISCHARGES Prev   Next  

Experimental and numerical investigation of a Hall thruster with a chamfered channel wall

Hong Li(李鸿)1, Guo-Jun Xia(夏国俊)1, Wei Mao(毛威)2, Jin-Wen Liu(刘金文)1, Yong-Jie Ding(丁永杰)1, Da-Ren Yu(于达仁)1, Xiao-Gang Wang(王晓钢)3
1 Plasma Propulsion Laboratory, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China;
2 Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, Beijing 100190, China;
3 Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Abstract  

A discharge channel with a chamfered wall not only has application in the design of modern Hall thrusters, but also exists where the channel wall is eroded, and so is a common status for these units. In this paper, the laws and mechanisms that govern the effect of the chamfered wall on the performance of a Hall thruster are investigated. By applying both experimental measurement and particle-in-cell simulation, it is determined that there is a moderate chamfer angle that can further improve the optimal performance obtained with a straight channel. This is because the chamfering of the wall near the channel exit can enhance ion acceleration and effectively reduce ion recombination on the wall, which is favorable to the promotion of the thrust and efficiency. However, the chamfer angle should not be too large; otherwise, both the density of the propellant gas and the distribution of the plasma potential in the channel are influenced, which is undesirable for efficient propellant utilization and beam concentration. Therefore, it is suggested that the chamfer shape of the channel wall is an important factor that must be carefully considered in the design of Hall thrusters.

Keywords:  Hall thruster      chamfered wall      discharge performance      physical mechanism  
Received:  18 October 2017      Revised:  03 July 2018      Accepted manuscript online: 
PACS:  52.75.Di (Ion and plasma propulsion)  
  52.30.-q (Plasma dynamics and flow)  
  52.65.Rr (Particle-in-cell method)  
Fund: 

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51507040, 51777045 and 51736003), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. HIT. NSRIF. 2015079), and the Research Program, China (Grant No. JSZL2016203C006).

Corresponding Authors:  Hong Li, Yong-Jie Ding     E-mail:  lihong@hit.edu.cn;dingyongjie@hit.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

Hong Li(李鸿), Guo-Jun Xia(夏国俊), Wei Mao(毛威), Jin-Wen Liu(刘金文), Yong-Jie Ding(丁永杰), Da-Ren Yu(于达仁), Xiao-Gang Wang(王晓钢) Experimental and numerical investigation of a Hall thruster with a chamfered channel wall 2018 Chin. Phys. B 27 105209

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