The origin of the breathing mode in Hall thrusters and its stabilization - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Applied Physics Année : 2021

The origin of the breathing mode in Hall thrusters and its stabilization

T. Lafleur
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1107486
Pascal Chabert
Anne Bourdon

Résumé

Using both 0D and 1D fluid models, we revisit the formation of the breathing mode in Hall thrusters and show that it is an ionization instability associated with nonlinearity in the electron power absorption. As the plasma density increases, the axial electric field profile changes and the magnitude of the electric field is enhanced in the ionization zone. This causes a nonlinear increase in the power absorbed by electrons, and an increase in the electron temperature and ionization rate factor that is able to partially compensate for the decreasing neutral density to keep the ionization rate high. This sets up a positive feedback mechanism where the electric field continues to be enhanced as the plasma density increases, and consequently the neutral density needs to decrease even further before plasma growth can be halted. At this point the neutral density is so low that the plasma can no longer be "sustained", and time is needed for neutrals to refill the thruster channel before "re-ignition" can occur and the process repeated. By treating the breathing mode as an AC excitation, a carefully designed external circuit can be used to counteract the change in axial electric field by appropriately varying the anode voltage to stabilise the discharge.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
JAP21-AR-ELEC2022-02619.pdf (884.04 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)

Dates et versions

hal-03320731 , version 1 (16-08-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

T. Lafleur, Pascal Chabert, Anne Bourdon. The origin of the breathing mode in Hall thrusters and its stabilization. Journal of Applied Physics, 2021, 130 (5), pp.053305. ⟨10.1063/5.0057095⟩. ⟨hal-03320731⟩
135 Consultations
243 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More