Influence of the Magnetic Field Topology on Hall Thruster Discharge Channel Wall Erosion

Author

Chang Liu ; Zuo Gu ; Kan Xie ; Yunkui Sun ; Haibin Tang

Author_Institution

Sch. of Aeronaut., Beihang Univ., Beijing, China

Volume

22

Issue

3

fYear

2012

fDate

6/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

4904105

Lastpage

4904105

Abstract

A 2D3V Particle-In-Cell (PIC) and Monte-Carlo Collision (MCC) model is adopted to simulate the plasma parameters and the channel wall erosion depth of a Hall thruster. Ions and electrons are modeled as particles. Artificial mass ratio and permittivity are employed to simulate the electrons and ions simultaneously. The influence of the magnetic topology on the erosion of the channel walls is discussed. The erosion model is based on the distributions of ion energy and incidence angle and the sputtering yield function at the channel wall. Simulation results are compared with experimental data.

Keywords

plasma accelerators; plasma instability; plasma-wall interactions; 2D3V particle-in-cell model; Hall thruster discharge channel wall erosion; Monte Carlo collision model; artificial mass ratio; channel wall erosion depth; incidence angle; ion energy; magnetic field topology; permittivity; plasma parameters; sputtering yield function; Discharges; Ions; Magnetic fields; Numerical models; Plasmas; Propulsion; Sputtering; Erosion; hall thruster; magnetic field topology; particle simulation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2012.2185028

Filename

6164235