Numerical simulation of the plasma acceleration process in a magnetically enhanced micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster

A particle-in-cell simulation is conducted to investigate the plasma acceleration process in a micro-cathode vacuum arc thruster.A coaxial electrode structure thruster with an applied magnetic field configuration is used to investigate the effects of the distribution of the magnetic field on the acceleration process and the mechanism of electrons and ions.The modeling results show that due to the small Larmor radius of electrons,they are magnetized and bound by the magnetic field lines to form a narrow electron channel.Heavy ions with a large Larmor radius take a long time to keep up with the electron movement.The presence of a magnetic field strengthens the charge separation phenomenon.The electric field caused by the charge separation is mainly responsible for the ion acceleration downstream of the computation.The impact of variations in the distribution of the magnetic field on the acceleration of the plasma is also investigated in this study,and it is found that the position of the magnetic coil relative to the thruster exit has an important impact on the acceleration of ions.In order to increase the axial velocity of heavy ions,the design should be considered to reduce the confinement of the magnetic field on the electrons in the downstream divergent part of the applied magnetic field.

Numerical simulation of constricted and diffusive arc–anode attachments in wall-stabilized transferred argon arcs

A numerical simulation is conducted to investigate arc-anode attachment behavior, especially the formation mechanism of the constricted arc attachment mode for the water-cooled anode of wall-stabilized transferred argon arcs. Argon molecular ions and the corresponding kinetic processes are included to the finite-rate chemistry model in order to capture the chemical nonequilibrium characteristics of the arc near the anode region. Modeling results show that constricted and diffusive arc–anode attachments can be self-consistently obtained at different arc currents while keeping other parameters unchanged. The dominant kinetic processes contributing to ionization and recombination in the arc center and fringes are presented. The results show that in arc fringes and the arc attachment region, molecular ion recombination plays an important role which leads to the rapid loss of electrons. The radial evolution of the production, loss and transport processes of electrons is further analyzed. It is found that for the constricted arc attachment mode, both the recombination and convection transport caused by the anode jet result in the loss of electrons at the arc fringes, which leads to the shrinkage of the arc column at the anode. The formation of the anode jet is due to the combined action of radial and axial Lorentz forces in the anode region.

The View of Micropropulsion Technology for China’s Advanced Small Platforms in Deep Space

In this paper,micropropulsion systems are analyzed in conjunction with the various mission requirements of China’s deep space exploration.As a great challenge facing the world,deep space exploration can be enabled only in a few countries with a success rate of around 50%.With the advancement of spacecraft and scientific instruments,it is now feasible to build small and low-cost spacecraft for a variety of deep space missions.As spacecraft become smaller,there is a need for proper micropropulsion systems.Examples of propulsion system selections for deep space exploration are discussed with a focus on products developed by Beijing Institute of Control Engineering(BICE).The requirements for propulsion systems are different in lunar/interplanetary exploration and gravitational wave detection.Chemical propulsion is selected for fast orbit transfer and electric propulsion for increasing scientific payloads.Cold gas propulsion and microelectric propulsion are good choices for space-based gravitational wave detection due to the capability of variable thrust output at the micro-Newton level.The paper also introduces the sub-1-U micropropulsion modules developed by BICE with satisfactory performance in flight tests,which are promising propulsion systems for small deep space platforms.A small probe with an electric sail propulsion system has been proposed for the future solar system boundary exploration of China.The electric sail serves as not only a propellant-free thruster but also a detector probing the properties of the space medium.