Simulation of Hollow Cathode in the Hall Thruster by Particle in Cell (PIC) Method

Kiantaj, Masumeh; Farhid, Morteza; Shafie, Mohammadmehdi; Morad, Mohammad Reza

doi:10.22034/jssta.2022.365419.1093

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Space Thrusters Research Institute

² Department of Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of Technology

https://doi.org/10.22034/jssta.2022.365419.1093

Abstract

The this article the characteristics of the hollow cathode plasma particles in the spt-100 hall effect thruster have been investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. One of the main and important components of the hall thruster is hollow cathode which plays two important tasks: one part of the electrons that come from the cathode used for anode propellant ionization, and the other part plays an important role of neutralizing the ion beam coming out of the thruster. Therefore, the study of the hollow cathode characteristic is importance. Krypton is used as fuel in this system. Potential changes, density of electrons, ions and temperature of particles have been studied throughout the simulation area. The results show that corresponding to the electrons, the ion density also decreases from the maximum value in the cathode ionization region exponentially through outer chamber. Also, analyzing normalized radius regard to electron density shows that the cathode effective area in which the radius electron temperature reaches maximum value is located about 1.5mm from the center line of the hallow cathode

Keywords

Hall thruster# Hollow cathode# PIC simulation

20.1001.1.27834557.1401.2.2.3.7

Main Subjects

Propulsion

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Space Science, Technology and Applications

Simulation of Hollow Cathode in the Hall Thruster by Particle in Cell (PIC) Method

References

References

Volume 2, Issue 2
February 2023
Pages 37-47

Simulation of Hollow Cathode in the Hall Thruster by Particle in Cell (PIC) Method

References

References

Volume 2, Issue 2February 2023Pages 37-47

Volume 2, Issue 2
February 2023
Pages 37-47