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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2019

Global model of a magnetized ion thruster with xenon and iodine

Résumé

Gridded ion thrusters are proven technologies for spacecraft propulsion in the Earth environment and beyond for commercial, scientific and exploratory missions. Experimental works and theoretical investigations have shown that the efficiency of these thrusters canbe improved by magnetic confinement. However, it is known that instabilities develop in magnetized plasmas that deconfine the electrons and decrease the efficiency with respect to what the classical theory of stable plasma transport predicts. Using recent theories of instability enhanced plasma transport, and based on former works performed on the global modeling of plasma discharges in the non-magnetized case, we develop a global model of a gridded ion thruster where the plasma is sustained by a radio-frequency antenna, and confined by a magnetic field oriented along the thrust axis. The unstable xenon plasma is simulated using 2D PIC simulation in simplified geometry. Iodine and xenon thrusters are both simulated using the global model, with a magnetic field varying between 0 and 20 mT. The plasma properties predicted by the classical and the instability enhanced transport models are given. The performances of the thrusters are also compared.
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Dates et versions

hal-02341687 , version 1 (31-10-2019)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-02341687 , version 1

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Romain Lucken, Florian Marmuse, Antoine Tavant, Anne Bourdon, Pascal Chabert. Global model of a magnetized ion thruster with xenon and iodine. 36th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Sep 2019, Vienna, Austria. ⟨hal-02341687⟩
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