Low-power Hall thruster(LHT) generally has poor discharge efficiency characteristics due to the large surface-to-volume ratio.Aiming to further refine and improve the performance of 300 W class LHT in terms of thrust ...Low-power Hall thruster(LHT) generally has poor discharge efficiency characteristics due to the large surface-to-volume ratio.Aiming to further refine and improve the performance of 300 W class LHT in terms of thrust and efficiency,and to obtain the most optimal operating point,the experimental study of the discharge characteristics for three different anode positions was conducted under the operation of various discharge voltages(100-400 V) and anode mass flow rates(0.65 mg·s-1and 0.95 mg·s-1).The experimental results indicated that the thruster has the most excellent performance in terms of thrust and efficiency etc at a channel length of 27 mm for identical operating conditions.In addition,particle in cell simulations,employed to reveal the underlying physical mechanisms,show that the ionization and acceleration zone is pushed downwards towards the channel exit as the anode moves towards the exit.At the identical operating point,when the channel length is reduced from 32 to 27 mm,the ionization and acceleration zone moves towards the exit,and the parameters such as thrust and efficiency increase due to the high ionization rate,ion number density,and axial electric field.When the channel length is further moved to 24 mm,the parameters in terms of thrust(F) and efficiency(ηa) are reduced as a result of the decreasing ionization efficiency(ηm) and the larger plume divergence angle(α).In this paper,the results indicated that an optimum anode position(ΔL=27 mm) exists for the optimum performance.展开更多
A 2D-3V implicit immersed-finite-element particle-in-cell(IFE-PIC)model is introduced to investigate the radio-frequency(RF)self-bias accelerating system applied in the RF ion thruster.A set of holes in a two-grid sys...A 2D-3V implicit immersed-finite-element particle-in-cell(IFE-PIC)model is introduced to investigate the radio-frequency(RF)self-bias accelerating system applied in the RF ion thruster.A set of holes in a two-grid system with slit apertures is simulated in Cartesian coordinates.The characteristics of the plasma plume,such as the ion density,the neutralization rate and the ion and electron current density were investigated for different RF voltage amplitudes(600-1200V)and frequencies(6-30 MHz).Furthermore,the performance of the thruster was also carefully studied.The simulation results show that a well-focused plasma beam can be formed when the voltage amplitude is larger than 900 V and the frequency exceeds the reciprocal of ion transit time(≥12 MHz)in our simulation cases.The performance of the system can be evidently improved by increasing the voltage amplitude and the frequency,and the losses of the particle and thrust are reduced correspondingly.The bulk region of the plasma beam downstream shows good quasi-neutrality,and the ions are dominant in the peripheral region when a well-focused state is achieved.The high ion density beamlet in the periphery of the ion beam is closer to the axis when the voltage amplitude is increasing,while it is expanded radially when increasing the frequency.Backstream electrons have been observed upstream,and this mainly occurs in the phase in which the electron cannot escape.展开更多
In this paper, we summarize the research development of low-frequency oscillations in the last few decades. The findings of physical mechanism, characteristics and stabilizing methods of low-frequency oscillations are...In this paper, we summarize the research development of low-frequency oscillations in the last few decades. The findings of physical mechanism, characteristics and stabilizing methods of low-frequency oscillations are discussed. It shows that it is unreasonable and incomplete to model an ionization region separately to analyze the physical mechanism of low-frequency oscillations. Electro-dynamics as well as the formation conditions of ionization distribution play an important role in characteristics and stabilizing of low-frequency oscillations. Understanding the physical mechanism and characteristics of low- frequency oscillations thoroughly and developing a feasible method stabilizing this instability are still important research subjects.展开更多
Electric propulsion is used for all electric propulsion satellites to perform the orbit transfer,attitude control and station-keeping tasks. Generally electric propulsion subsystem contains 4 thrusters. But if one thr...Electric propulsion is used for all electric propulsion satellites to perform the orbit transfer,attitude control and station-keeping tasks. Generally electric propulsion subsystem contains 4 thrusters. But if one thruster fails in the beginning of satellite lifetime,other thrusters will undertake all the firing tasks. The firing time will be 2 to 3 times of thrusters without failure. Thus it may go beyond the allow ed lifetime of thruster. This paper puts forward two thruster redundancy configuration solutions with 6 thrusters to solve this problem. Two layout configurations and their corresponding station-keeping strategies are simulated and compared. The results show that the maximum firing time of both layout configurations can meet the lifetime limitation. This solution is a good reference for all electric propulsion satellites design.展开更多
Air-Breathing Electric Thrusters (ABET) diagnostics is addressed, with on-ground prototypes in mind. It is based on detailed volume averaged Global Models and focuses on emission spectroscopy. Notably, the obtained op...Air-Breathing Electric Thrusters (ABET) diagnostics is addressed, with on-ground prototypes in mind. It is based on detailed volume averaged Global Models and focuses on emission spectroscopy. Notably, the obtained optical emission spectroscopy diagnostics tools give important information about the thruster propellant constitution and also the ionization degree of each constituent. This allows for trade-off between various prototypes on the basis of their characterization and optimization.展开更多
Experimental investigations into the effects of the magnetic field configuration near the channel exit on the plume of Hall thrusters were conducted. The magnetic field configuration near the channel exit is character...Experimental investigations into the effects of the magnetic field configuration near the channel exit on the plume of Hall thrusters were conducted. The magnetic field configuration near the channel exit is characterized by the inclination angle between the magnetic field lines and the thruster radial direction. Different inclination angles were obtained by varying the current ratio in the coils. The plume divergence angles were measured by a dual-directed probe. The results showed that the plume divergence angle increased obviously with the increase in the magnitude of the inclination angle near the channel exit. Therefore, in order to optimize the magnetic field for reducing plume divergence, the magnitude of the inclination angle should be reduced as much as possible. It suggests that the magnetic field configuration near the channel exit is another important factor that affects plume divergence.展开更多
In this work,a force measurement system is proposed to measure the thrust of plasma microthruster with thrust magnitude ranging from sub-micro-Newtons to hundreds micro-Newtons.The thrust measurement system uses an el...In this work,a force measurement system is proposed to measure the thrust of plasma microthruster with thrust magnitude ranging from sub-micro-Newtons to hundreds micro-Newtons.The thrust measurement system uses an elastic torsional pendulum structure with a capacitance sensor to measure the displacement,which can reflect the position change caused by the applied force perpendicular to the pendulum axis.In the open-loop mode,the steady-state thrust or the impulse of the plasma micro-thruster can be obtained from the swing of the pendulum,and in the closed-loop mode the steady-state thrust can be obtained from the feedback force that keeps the pendulum at a specific position.The thrust respond of the system was calibrated using an electrostatic weak force generation device.Experimental results show that the system can measure a thrust range from 0 to 200μN in both open-loop mode and closed-loop mode with a thrust resolution of 0.1μN,and the system can response to a pulse bit at the magnitude of 0.1 m N s generated by a micro cathode arc thruster.The background noise of the closed-loop mode is lower than that of the open-loop mode,both less than 0.1 m N/Hz in the range of 10 mHz to 5 Hz.展开更多
In this paper, a direct connection between the discharge current amplitude and the thruster performance is established by varying solely the capacitance of the filter unit of the Hall thrusters. To be precise, the var...In this paper, a direct connection between the discharge current amplitude and the thruster performance is established by varying solely the capacitance of the filter unit of the Hall thrusters. To be precise, the variation characteristics of ion current, propellant utilization efficiency, and divergence angle of plume at different low-frequency oscillation amplitudes are measured. The findings demonstrate that in the case of the propellant in the discharge channel just meets or falls below the full ionization condition, the increase of low-frequency oscillation amplitude can significantly enhance the ionization degree of the neutral gas in the channel and increase the thrust and anode efficiency of thruster. On the contrary, the increase in the amplitude of low-frequency oscillation will lead to increase the loss of plume divergence, therefore the thrust and anode efficiency of thruster decrease.展开更多
Considering the actual magnetic field configuration in a Hall thruster, the effect of magnetic mirror on the radial profile of near-wall conductivity (NWC) is studied in this paper. The plasma electron dynamic proce...Considering the actual magnetic field configuration in a Hall thruster, the effect of magnetic mirror on the radial profile of near-wall conductivity (NWC) is studied in this paper. The plasma electron dynamic process is described by the test particle method. The Monte Carlo scheme is used to solve this model. The radial profile of electron mobility is obtained and the role of magnetic mirror in NWC is analysed both theoretically and numerically. The numerical results show that the electron mobility peak due to NWC is inversely proportional to the magnetic mirror ratio and the asymmetry of electron mobility along the radial direction gets greater when the magnetic mirror is considered. This effect indicates that apart from the disparity in the magnetic field strength, the difference in the magnetic mirror ratio near the inner and outer walls would actually augment the asymmetry of the radial profile of NWC in Hall thrusters.展开更多
The guidance and control strategy for endoatmospheric kinetic interceptor controlled by lateral pulse thrusters was detailed.The pulse thruster control system was firstly proposed.The sample-and-hold approach was intr...The guidance and control strategy for endoatmospheric kinetic interceptor controlled by lateral pulse thrusters was detailed.The pulse thruster control system was firstly proposed.The sample-and-hold approach was introduced to design a novel lateral acceleration autopilot on the basis of traditional two-loop topology.Combined with proportional navigation guidance law and the novel autopilot,the overall ballistic trajectory was presented and examined.Simulation results show that the pulse thruster control strategy can greatly improve the control system response speed and the maximal acceleration capability for realizing kinetic kill interception.展开更多
A high-speed charge-coupled device camera was used to capture images of the plume and acceleration channel of a Hall effect thruster during ignition at different discharge voltages.To better understand the influence o...A high-speed charge-coupled device camera was used to capture images of the plume and acceleration channel of a Hall effect thruster during ignition at different discharge voltages.To better understand the influence of changes in the discharge voltage on the plasma parameters during thruster ignition,a particle-in-cell numerical model was used to calculate the distribution characteristics of the ion density and electric potential at different ignition moments under different discharge voltages.The results show that when the discharge voltage is high,the ion densities in the plume and acceleration channel are significantly higher at the initial phase of thruster ignition;with the gradual strengthening of the ignition process,the propellant avalanche ionization during thruster ignition occurs earlier and the pulse current peak increases.The main reason for these phenomena is that the change in the discharge voltage results in different energy acquisitions of the emitted electrons entering the thruster channel.展开更多
A new method to measure the average plasma velocity in a Hall-effect thruster is presented. The method is brought forward in virtue of the characteristics of low frequency oscillation induced by the propellant ionizat...A new method to measure the average plasma velocity in a Hall-effect thruster is presented. The method is brought forward in virtue of the characteristics of low frequency oscillation induced by the propellant ionization in the channel and the oriented movement feature of the plasma density out of the channel. The method, equivalent to the correlation method generally used in the signal processing field, provides a solution to the problem of specific impulse measurement on a timescale of hundreds of microseconds and makes the time evolution of average plasma velocity clear. The comparison between the measured value and the calibrated value shows that the relative error is about 3%.展开更多
The transport processes of plasmas in grid systems of krypton(Kr) ion thrusters at different acceleration voltages were simulated with a 3 D-PIC model, and the result was compared with xenon(Xe) ion thrusters. The...The transport processes of plasmas in grid systems of krypton(Kr) ion thrusters at different acceleration voltages were simulated with a 3 D-PIC model, and the result was compared with xenon(Xe) ion thrusters. The variation of the screen grid transparency, the accelerator grid current ratio and the divergence loss were explored. It is found that the screen grid transparency increases with the acceleration voltage and decreases with the beam current, while the accelerator grid current ratio and divergence loss decrease first and then increase with the beam current. This result is the same with Xe ion thrusters. Simulation results also show that Kr ion thrusters have more advantages than Xe ion thrusters, such as higher screen grid transparency, smaller accelerator grid current ratio, larger cut-off current threshold, and better divergence loss characteristic. These advantages mean that Kr ion thrusters have the ability of operating in a wide range of current. Through comprehensive analyses, it can be concluded that using Kr as propellant is very suitable for a multimode ion thruster design.展开更多
Using two infrared pulsed lasers systems,a picosecond solid-state Nd:YAG laser with tuneable repetition rate(400 kHz-1 MHz)working in the burst mode of a multi-pulse train and a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser amplifier...Using two infrared pulsed lasers systems,a picosecond solid-state Nd:YAG laser with tuneable repetition rate(400 kHz-1 MHz)working in the burst mode of a multi-pulse train and a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser amplifier with tuneable pulse duration in the range of tens of femtoseconds up to tens of picoseconds,working in single-shot mode(TEWALASS facility from CETAL-NILPRP),we have investigated the optimal laser parameters for kinetic energy transfer to a titanium target for laser-thrust applications.In the single-pulse regime,we controlled the power density by changing both the duration and pulse energy.In the multi-pulse regime,the train’s number of pulses(burst length)and the pulse energy variation were investigated.Heat propagation and photon reflection-based models were used to simulate the obtained experimental results.In the single-pulse regime,optimal kinetic energy transfer was obtained for power densities of about 500 times the ablation threshold corresponding to the specific laser pulse duration.In multi-pulse regimes,the optimal number of pulses per train increases with the train frequency and decreases with the pulse power density.An ideal energy transfer efficiency resulting from our experiments and simulations is close to about 0.0015%.展开更多
The existence of a significant electron drift instability(EDI) in the Hall thruster is considered as one of the possible causes of the abnormal increase in axial electron mobility near the outlet of the channel. In re...The existence of a significant electron drift instability(EDI) in the Hall thruster is considered as one of the possible causes of the abnormal increase in axial electron mobility near the outlet of the channel. In recent years, extensive simulation research on the characteristics of EDI has been conducted, but the excitation mechanism and growth mechanism of EDI in linear stage and nonlinear stage remain unclear. In this work, a one-dimensional PIC model in the azimuthal direction of the thruster near-exit region is established to gain further insights into the mechanism of the EDI in detail, and the effects of different types of propellants on EDI characteristics are discussed. The changes in axial electron transport caused by EDI under different types of propellants and electromagnetic field strengths are also examined. The results indicate that EDI undergoes a short linear growth phase before transitioning to the nonlinear phase and finally reaching saturation through the ion Landau damping. The EDI drives a significant ion heating in the azimuthal direction through electron–ion friction before entering the quasi-steady state, which increases the axial mobility of the electrons. Using lighter atomic weight propellant can effectively suppress the oscillation amplitude of EDI, but it will increase the linear growth rate, frequency, and phase velocity of EDI. Compared with the classical mobility, the axial electron mobility under the EDI increases by three orders of magnitude, which is consistent with experimental phenomena. The change of propellant type is insufficient to significantly change the axial electron mobility. It is also found that the collisions between electrons and neutral gasescan significantly affect the axial electron mobility under the influence of EDI, and lead the strength of the electric field to increase and the strength of the magnetic field to decrease, thereby both effectively suppressing the axial transport of electrons.展开更多
Previous studies have shown that there is an obvious coupling relationship between the installation location of the external cathode and the magnetic separatrix in the plume region of a Hall thruster.In this paper,the...Previous studies have shown that there is an obvious coupling relationship between the installation location of the external cathode and the magnetic separatrix in the plume region of a Hall thruster.In this paper,the particle-in-cell simulation method is used to compare the thruster discharge process under the conditions of different position relationships between the cathode and the magnetic separatrix.By comparing the distribution of electron conduction,potential,plasma density and other microscopic parameters,we try to explain the formation mechanism of the discharge difference.The simulation results show that the cathode inside and outside the magnetic separatrix has a significant effect on the distribution of potential and plasma density.When the cathode is located on the outer side of the magnetic separatrix,the potential above the plume region is relatively low,and there is a strong potential gradient above the plume region.This potential gradient is more conducive to the radial diffusion of ions above the plume,which is the main reason for the strong divergence of the plume.The distribution of ion density is also consistent with the distribution of potential.When the cathode is located on the outer side of the magnetic separatrix,the radial diffusion of ions in the plume region is enhanced.Meanwhile,by comparing the results of electron conduction,it is found that the traiectories of electrons emitted from the cathode are significantly different between the inner and outer sides of the magnetic separatrix.This is mainly because the electrons are affected by the magnetic mirror effect of the magnetic tip,which makes it difficult for the electrons to move across the magnetic separatrix.This is the main reason for the difference in potential distribution.In this paper,the simulation results of macroscopic parameters under several conditions are also compared,and they are consistent with the experimental results.The cathode is located on the inner side of the magnetic separatrix,which can effectively reduce the plume divergence angle and improve the thrust.In this paper,the cathode moves from R=50 mm to R=35 mm along the radial direction,the thrust increases by 3.6 mN and the plume divergence angle decreases by 23.77%.Combined with the comparison of the ionization region and the peak ion density,it is found that the main reason for the change in thrust is the change in the radial diffusion of ions in the plume region.展开更多
As the size of satellites scales down, low-power and compact propulsion systems such as the pulsed plasma thruster(PPT) are needed for stabilizing these miniature satellites in orbit. Most PPT systems are operated at ...As the size of satellites scales down, low-power and compact propulsion systems such as the pulsed plasma thruster(PPT) are needed for stabilizing these miniature satellites in orbit. Most PPT systems are operated at 2 J or more of discharge energy. In this work, the performance of a PPT with a side-fed, tongue-flared electrode configuration operated within a lower discharge energy range of 0.5-2.5 J has been investigated. Ablation and charring of the polytetrafluoroethylene propellant surface were analyzed through field-effect scanning electron microscopy imaging and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. When the discharge energy fell below 2 J, inconsistencies occurred in the specific impulse and the thrust efficiency due to the measurement of the low mass bit. At energy ≥2 J, the performance parameters are compared with other PPT systems of similar configuration and discussed in depth.展开更多
The paper describes a novel mathematical model to study the physics of fully ionized plasma flow through MPD thrusters otherwise known as magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters.The developed model consists of a set of differe...The paper describes a novel mathematical model to study the physics of fully ionized plasma flow through MPD thrusters otherwise known as magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters.The developed model consists of a set of differential equations obtained by coupling the Navier–Stokes equations with Maxwell’s equations.The model developed was tested for various 1D and 1.5D cases.These simulations have been carried out for a special case of geometries called Tikhonov fitted geometries for alleviating the instability phenomenon commonly known as onset phenomenon in self-field MPD thrusters.The work was also extended to applied field MPD thrusters.A new equation for magnetic field was introduced to incorporate a virtual cathode.All the computations were carried out using a higher order integration scheme.The results obtained were found to be in good agreement with the previous work done on similar models.展开更多
In order to improve the reliability of the spacecraft micro cold gas propulsion system and realize the precise control of the spacecraft attitude and orbit, a micro-thrust, high-precision cold gas thruster is carried ...In order to improve the reliability of the spacecraft micro cold gas propulsion system and realize the precise control of the spacecraft attitude and orbit, a micro-thrust, high-precision cold gas thruster is carried out, at the same time due to the design requirements of the spacecraft, this micro-thrust should be continuous working more than 60 minutes, the traditional solenoid valve used for the thrusts can’t complete the mission, so a long-life micro latching valve is developed as the control valve for this micro thruster, because the micro latching valve can keep its position when it cuts off the outage. Firstly, the authors introduced the design scheme and idea of the thruster. Secondly, the performance of the latching valve and the flow characteristics of the nozzle were simulated. Finally, from the experimental results and compared with the numerical study, it shows that the long-life micro cold gas thruster developed in this paper meets the mission requirements.展开更多
A submergible robot model has been presented, and for 3D printing measures, their parts have been modified enough. It has been shown in our design that using printable connectors—a few engines and weight arrangements...A submergible robot model has been presented, and for 3D printing measures, their parts have been modified enough. It has been shown in our design that using printable connectors—a few engines and weight arrangements can be carried out, permitting distinctive moving prospects. After presenting our configuration and delineating a bunch of potential structures, a helpful model dependent on open-source equipment and programming arrangements has been presented conditionally. The model can be effectively tried in a few makes-a plunge streams and lakes throughout the planet. The unwavering quality of the printed models can be strained distinctly in generally shallow waters. Nonetheless, we accept that their accessibility will inspire the overall population to construct and test submerged robots, subsequently accelerating the improvement of imaginative arrangements and applications.展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.12005087)Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province (Nos.2006ZCTF0054, HTKJ2019KL510003,and 20JR10RA478)。
文摘Low-power Hall thruster(LHT) generally has poor discharge efficiency characteristics due to the large surface-to-volume ratio.Aiming to further refine and improve the performance of 300 W class LHT in terms of thrust and efficiency,and to obtain the most optimal operating point,the experimental study of the discharge characteristics for three different anode positions was conducted under the operation of various discharge voltages(100-400 V) and anode mass flow rates(0.65 mg·s-1and 0.95 mg·s-1).The experimental results indicated that the thruster has the most excellent performance in terms of thrust and efficiency etc at a channel length of 27 mm for identical operating conditions.In addition,particle in cell simulations,employed to reveal the underlying physical mechanisms,show that the ionization and acceleration zone is pushed downwards towards the channel exit as the anode moves towards the exit.At the identical operating point,when the channel length is reduced from 32 to 27 mm,the ionization and acceleration zone moves towards the exit,and the parameters such as thrust and efficiency increase due to the high ionization rate,ion number density,and axial electric field.When the channel length is further moved to 24 mm,the parameters in terms of thrust(F) and efficiency(ηa) are reduced as a result of the decreasing ionization efficiency(ηm) and the larger plume divergence angle(α).In this paper,the results indicated that an optimum anode position(ΔL=27 mm) exists for the optimum performance.
基金supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2022M710977)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51907039)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(Nos.2022A1515110215 and 2023A1515010137)Shenzhen Technology Projects(Nos.JCYJ20190806142603534 and ZDSYS201707280904031)。
文摘A 2D-3V implicit immersed-finite-element particle-in-cell(IFE-PIC)model is introduced to investigate the radio-frequency(RF)self-bias accelerating system applied in the RF ion thruster.A set of holes in a two-grid system with slit apertures is simulated in Cartesian coordinates.The characteristics of the plasma plume,such as the ion density,the neutralization rate and the ion and electron current density were investigated for different RF voltage amplitudes(600-1200V)and frequencies(6-30 MHz).Furthermore,the performance of the thruster was also carefully studied.The simulation results show that a well-focused plasma beam can be formed when the voltage amplitude is larger than 900 V and the frequency exceeds the reciprocal of ion transit time(≥12 MHz)in our simulation cases.The performance of the system can be evidently improved by increasing the voltage amplitude and the frequency,and the losses of the particle and thrust are reduced correspondingly.The bulk region of the plasma beam downstream shows good quasi-neutrality,and the ions are dominant in the peripheral region when a well-focused state is achieved.The high ion density beamlet in the periphery of the ion beam is closer to the axis when the voltage amplitude is increasing,while it is expanded radially when increasing the frequency.Backstream electrons have been observed upstream,and this mainly occurs in the phase in which the electron cannot escape.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51477035)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(Grant No.HIT.NSRIF 2015064)the Open Research Fund Program of State Key Laboratory of Cryogenic Vacuum Technology and Physics,China(Grant No.ZDK201304)
文摘In this paper, we summarize the research development of low-frequency oscillations in the last few decades. The findings of physical mechanism, characteristics and stabilizing methods of low-frequency oscillations are discussed. It shows that it is unreasonable and incomplete to model an ionization region separately to analyze the physical mechanism of low-frequency oscillations. Electro-dynamics as well as the formation conditions of ionization distribution play an important role in characteristics and stabilizing of low-frequency oscillations. Understanding the physical mechanism and characteristics of low- frequency oscillations thoroughly and developing a feasible method stabilizing this instability are still important research subjects.
文摘Electric propulsion is used for all electric propulsion satellites to perform the orbit transfer,attitude control and station-keeping tasks. Generally electric propulsion subsystem contains 4 thrusters. But if one thruster fails in the beginning of satellite lifetime,other thrusters will undertake all the firing tasks. The firing time will be 2 to 3 times of thrusters without failure. Thus it may go beyond the allow ed lifetime of thruster. This paper puts forward two thruster redundancy configuration solutions with 6 thrusters to solve this problem. Two layout configurations and their corresponding station-keeping strategies are simulated and compared. The results show that the maximum firing time of both layout configurations can meet the lifetime limitation. This solution is a good reference for all electric propulsion satellites design.
文摘Air-Breathing Electric Thrusters (ABET) diagnostics is addressed, with on-ground prototypes in mind. It is based on detailed volume averaged Global Models and focuses on emission spectroscopy. Notably, the obtained optical emission spectroscopy diagnostics tools give important information about the thruster propellant constitution and also the ionization degree of each constituent. This allows for trade-off between various prototypes on the basis of their characterization and optimization.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.50676026)the Program for Chair Professors of"Cheung Kong Scholars Program"of China in 2008
文摘Experimental investigations into the effects of the magnetic field configuration near the channel exit on the plume of Hall thrusters were conducted. The magnetic field configuration near the channel exit is characterized by the inclination angle between the magnetic field lines and the thruster radial direction. Different inclination angles were obtained by varying the current ratio in the coils. The plume divergence angles were measured by a dual-directed probe. The results showed that the plume divergence angle increased obviously with the increase in the magnitude of the inclination angle near the channel exit. Therefore, in order to optimize the magnetic field for reducing plume divergence, the magnitude of the inclination angle should be reduced as much as possible. It suggests that the magnetic field configuration near the channel exit is another important factor that affects plume divergence.
基金supported by the Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Space Engine(No.17DZ2280800)。
文摘In this work,a force measurement system is proposed to measure the thrust of plasma microthruster with thrust magnitude ranging from sub-micro-Newtons to hundreds micro-Newtons.The thrust measurement system uses an elastic torsional pendulum structure with a capacitance sensor to measure the displacement,which can reflect the position change caused by the applied force perpendicular to the pendulum axis.In the open-loop mode,the steady-state thrust or the impulse of the plasma micro-thruster can be obtained from the swing of the pendulum,and in the closed-loop mode the steady-state thrust can be obtained from the feedback force that keeps the pendulum at a specific position.The thrust respond of the system was calibrated using an electrostatic weak force generation device.Experimental results show that the system can measure a thrust range from 0 to 200μN in both open-loop mode and closed-loop mode with a thrust resolution of 0.1μN,and the system can response to a pulse bit at the magnitude of 0.1 m N s generated by a micro cathode arc thruster.The background noise of the closed-loop mode is lower than that of the open-loop mode,both less than 0.1 m N/Hz in the range of 10 mHz to 5 Hz.
基金support of National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51477035 and 51777045)
文摘In this paper, a direct connection between the discharge current amplitude and the thruster performance is established by varying solely the capacitance of the filter unit of the Hall thrusters. To be precise, the variation characteristics of ion current, propellant utilization efficiency, and divergence angle of plume at different low-frequency oscillation amplitudes are measured. The findings demonstrate that in the case of the propellant in the discharge channel just meets or falls below the full ionization condition, the increase of low-frequency oscillation amplitude can significantly enhance the ionization degree of the neutral gas in the channel and increase the thrust and anode efficiency of thruster. On the contrary, the increase in the amplitude of low-frequency oscillation will lead to increase the loss of plume divergence, therefore the thrust and anode efficiency of thruster decrease.
基金supported by Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (PCSIRT)(No.IRT0520)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.60671012)
文摘Considering the actual magnetic field configuration in a Hall thruster, the effect of magnetic mirror on the radial profile of near-wall conductivity (NWC) is studied in this paper. The plasma electron dynamic process is described by the test particle method. The Monte Carlo scheme is used to solve this model. The radial profile of electron mobility is obtained and the role of magnetic mirror in NWC is analysed both theoretically and numerically. The numerical results show that the electron mobility peak due to NWC is inversely proportional to the magnetic mirror ratio and the asymmetry of electron mobility along the radial direction gets greater when the magnetic mirror is considered. This effect indicates that apart from the disparity in the magnetic field strength, the difference in the magnetic mirror ratio near the inner and outer walls would actually augment the asymmetry of the radial profile of NWC in Hall thrusters.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61172182)
文摘The guidance and control strategy for endoatmospheric kinetic interceptor controlled by lateral pulse thrusters was detailed.The pulse thruster control system was firstly proposed.The sample-and-hold approach was introduced to design a novel lateral acceleration autopilot on the basis of traditional two-loop topology.Combined with proportional navigation guidance law and the novel autopilot,the overall ballistic trajectory was presented and examined.Simulation results show that the pulse thruster control strategy can greatly improve the control system response speed and the maximal acceleration capability for realizing kinetic kill interception.
基金funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51736003 and 51777045)the Foundation of Science and Technology on Vacuum Technology and Physics Laboratory of Lanzhou Institute of Physics(No.6142207190305)the Science and Technology Innovation Projects of Hunan Province(Project No.2018RS3146 and Project No.2019RS1102)。
文摘A high-speed charge-coupled device camera was used to capture images of the plume and acceleration channel of a Hall effect thruster during ignition at different discharge voltages.To better understand the influence of changes in the discharge voltage on the plasma parameters during thruster ignition,a particle-in-cell numerical model was used to calculate the distribution characteristics of the ion density and electric potential at different ignition moments under different discharge voltages.The results show that when the discharge voltage is high,the ion densities in the plume and acceleration channel are significantly higher at the initial phase of thruster ignition;with the gradual strengthening of the ignition process,the propellant avalanche ionization during thruster ignition occurs earlier and the pulse current peak increases.The main reason for these phenomena is that the change in the discharge voltage results in different energy acquisitions of the emitted electrons entering the thruster channel.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.50676026)
文摘A new method to measure the average plasma velocity in a Hall-effect thruster is presented. The method is brought forward in virtue of the characteristics of low frequency oscillation induced by the propellant ionization in the channel and the oriented movement feature of the plasma density out of the channel. The method, equivalent to the correlation method generally used in the signal processing field, provides a solution to the problem of specific impulse measurement on a timescale of hundreds of microseconds and makes the time evolution of average plasma velocity clear. The comparison between the measured value and the calibrated value shows that the relative error is about 3%.
基金co-supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11675040)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Nos. 3102014KYJD005 and 1191329723)
文摘The transport processes of plasmas in grid systems of krypton(Kr) ion thrusters at different acceleration voltages were simulated with a 3 D-PIC model, and the result was compared with xenon(Xe) ion thrusters. The variation of the screen grid transparency, the accelerator grid current ratio and the divergence loss were explored. It is found that the screen grid transparency increases with the acceleration voltage and decreases with the beam current, while the accelerator grid current ratio and divergence loss decrease first and then increase with the beam current. This result is the same with Xe ion thrusters. Simulation results also show that Kr ion thrusters have more advantages than Xe ion thrusters, such as higher screen grid transparency, smaller accelerator grid current ratio, larger cut-off current threshold, and better divergence loss characteristic. These advantages mean that Kr ion thrusters have the ability of operating in a wide range of current. Through comprehensive analyses, it can be concluded that using Kr as propellant is very suitable for a multimode ion thruster design.
基金supported by the Ministry of Research,Innovation and Digitization(Ministerul Cercetarii,Inovarii si Digitalizarii)/Institute of Atomic Physics from the National Research-Development and Innovation Plan Ⅲ for 2015-2020/Programme 5/Subprograme 5.1 ELI-RO,project ELIRO No ELI_13/16.10.2020.
文摘Using two infrared pulsed lasers systems,a picosecond solid-state Nd:YAG laser with tuneable repetition rate(400 kHz-1 MHz)working in the burst mode of a multi-pulse train and a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser amplifier with tuneable pulse duration in the range of tens of femtoseconds up to tens of picoseconds,working in single-shot mode(TEWALASS facility from CETAL-NILPRP),we have investigated the optimal laser parameters for kinetic energy transfer to a titanium target for laser-thrust applications.In the single-pulse regime,we controlled the power density by changing both the duration and pulse energy.In the multi-pulse regime,the train’s number of pulses(burst length)and the pulse energy variation were investigated.Heat propagation and photon reflection-based models were used to simulate the obtained experimental results.In the single-pulse regime,optimal kinetic energy transfer was obtained for power densities of about 500 times the ablation threshold corresponding to the specific laser pulse duration.In multi-pulse regimes,the optimal number of pulses per train increases with the train frequency and decreases with the pulse power density.An ideal energy transfer efficiency resulting from our experiments and simulations is close to about 0.0015%.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.11975062 and 11605021)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.3132023192)。
文摘The existence of a significant electron drift instability(EDI) in the Hall thruster is considered as one of the possible causes of the abnormal increase in axial electron mobility near the outlet of the channel. In recent years, extensive simulation research on the characteristics of EDI has been conducted, but the excitation mechanism and growth mechanism of EDI in linear stage and nonlinear stage remain unclear. In this work, a one-dimensional PIC model in the azimuthal direction of the thruster near-exit region is established to gain further insights into the mechanism of the EDI in detail, and the effects of different types of propellants on EDI characteristics are discussed. The changes in axial electron transport caused by EDI under different types of propellants and electromagnetic field strengths are also examined. The results indicate that EDI undergoes a short linear growth phase before transitioning to the nonlinear phase and finally reaching saturation through the ion Landau damping. The EDI drives a significant ion heating in the azimuthal direction through electron–ion friction before entering the quasi-steady state, which increases the axial mobility of the electrons. Using lighter atomic weight propellant can effectively suppress the oscillation amplitude of EDI, but it will increase the linear growth rate, frequency, and phase velocity of EDI. Compared with the classical mobility, the axial electron mobility under the EDI increases by three orders of magnitude, which is consistent with experimental phenomena. The change of propellant type is insufficient to significantly change the axial electron mobility. It is also found that the collisions between electrons and neutral gasescan significantly affect the axial electron mobility under the influence of EDI, and lead the strength of the electric field to increase and the strength of the magnetic field to decrease, thereby both effectively suppressing the axial transport of electrons.
基金supported by the Shanghai 2022 Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan(No.22YF1446800)。
文摘Previous studies have shown that there is an obvious coupling relationship between the installation location of the external cathode and the magnetic separatrix in the plume region of a Hall thruster.In this paper,the particle-in-cell simulation method is used to compare the thruster discharge process under the conditions of different position relationships between the cathode and the magnetic separatrix.By comparing the distribution of electron conduction,potential,plasma density and other microscopic parameters,we try to explain the formation mechanism of the discharge difference.The simulation results show that the cathode inside and outside the magnetic separatrix has a significant effect on the distribution of potential and plasma density.When the cathode is located on the outer side of the magnetic separatrix,the potential above the plume region is relatively low,and there is a strong potential gradient above the plume region.This potential gradient is more conducive to the radial diffusion of ions above the plume,which is the main reason for the strong divergence of the plume.The distribution of ion density is also consistent with the distribution of potential.When the cathode is located on the outer side of the magnetic separatrix,the radial diffusion of ions in the plume region is enhanced.Meanwhile,by comparing the results of electron conduction,it is found that the traiectories of electrons emitted from the cathode are significantly different between the inner and outer sides of the magnetic separatrix.This is mainly because the electrons are affected by the magnetic mirror effect of the magnetic tip,which makes it difficult for the electrons to move across the magnetic separatrix.This is the main reason for the difference in potential distribution.In this paper,the simulation results of macroscopic parameters under several conditions are also compared,and they are consistent with the experimental results.The cathode is located on the inner side of the magnetic separatrix,which can effectively reduce the plume divergence angle and improve the thrust.In this paper,the cathode moves from R=50 mm to R=35 mm along the radial direction,the thrust increases by 3.6 mN and the plume divergence angle decreases by 23.77%.Combined with the comparison of the ionization region and the peak ion density,it is found that the main reason for the change in thrust is the change in the radial diffusion of ions in the plume region.
基金supported by the Ministry of Science,Technology and Innovation,Malaysia(MOSTI)(No.04-02-12-SF0339)。
文摘As the size of satellites scales down, low-power and compact propulsion systems such as the pulsed plasma thruster(PPT) are needed for stabilizing these miniature satellites in orbit. Most PPT systems are operated at 2 J or more of discharge energy. In this work, the performance of a PPT with a side-fed, tongue-flared electrode configuration operated within a lower discharge energy range of 0.5-2.5 J has been investigated. Ablation and charring of the polytetrafluoroethylene propellant surface were analyzed through field-effect scanning electron microscopy imaging and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. When the discharge energy fell below 2 J, inconsistencies occurred in the specific impulse and the thrust efficiency due to the measurement of the low mass bit. At energy ≥2 J, the performance parameters are compared with other PPT systems of similar configuration and discussed in depth.
文摘The paper describes a novel mathematical model to study the physics of fully ionized plasma flow through MPD thrusters otherwise known as magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters.The developed model consists of a set of differential equations obtained by coupling the Navier–Stokes equations with Maxwell’s equations.The model developed was tested for various 1D and 1.5D cases.These simulations have been carried out for a special case of geometries called Tikhonov fitted geometries for alleviating the instability phenomenon commonly known as onset phenomenon in self-field MPD thrusters.The work was also extended to applied field MPD thrusters.A new equation for magnetic field was introduced to incorporate a virtual cathode.All the computations were carried out using a higher order integration scheme.The results obtained were found to be in good agreement with the previous work done on similar models.
文摘In order to improve the reliability of the spacecraft micro cold gas propulsion system and realize the precise control of the spacecraft attitude and orbit, a micro-thrust, high-precision cold gas thruster is carried out, at the same time due to the design requirements of the spacecraft, this micro-thrust should be continuous working more than 60 minutes, the traditional solenoid valve used for the thrusts can’t complete the mission, so a long-life micro latching valve is developed as the control valve for this micro thruster, because the micro latching valve can keep its position when it cuts off the outage. Firstly, the authors introduced the design scheme and idea of the thruster. Secondly, the performance of the latching valve and the flow characteristics of the nozzle were simulated. Finally, from the experimental results and compared with the numerical study, it shows that the long-life micro cold gas thruster developed in this paper meets the mission requirements.
文摘A submergible robot model has been presented, and for 3D printing measures, their parts have been modified enough. It has been shown in our design that using printable connectors—a few engines and weight arrangements can be carried out, permitting distinctive moving prospects. After presenting our configuration and delineating a bunch of potential structures, a helpful model dependent on open-source equipment and programming arrangements has been presented conditionally. The model can be effectively tried in a few makes-a plunge streams and lakes throughout the planet. The unwavering quality of the printed models can be strained distinctly in generally shallow waters. Nonetheless, we accept that their accessibility will inspire the overall population to construct and test submerged robots, subsequently accelerating the improvement of imaginative arrangements and applications.