Plasma dynamics and electron transport in a Hall-thruster-representative configuration with various propellants: I- Variations with discharge voltage and current density
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Reza, Maryam
Faraji, Farbod
Knoll, Aaron
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The results from a wide-ranging parametric investigation into the behavior of a collisionless partially magnetized plasma discharge of three propellants – xenon, krypton, and argon – are reported in this two-part article. The studies are performed using high-fidelity reduced-order particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in a 2D configuration that represents an axial-azimuthal cross-section of a Hall thruster. In this part I paper, we discuss the effects of discharge voltage and cur-rent density (mass flow rate). Our parametric studies assess the spectra of the resolved instabilities under various plas-ma conditions. We evaluate the ability of the relevant theories from the literature to explain the variations in the instabil-ities’ characteristics across the studied plasma parameter space and for various propellants. Moreover, we investigate the changes in the electrons’ cross-magnetic-field transport as well as in the significance of the contribution of different momentum terms to this phenomenon across the analyzed cases. In terms of the salient observations, the ion acoustic instability (IAI) related modes are found to be dominant across the simulation cases, with the ion transit time instability also seen to develop at low current density values. Across the explored parameter space, the instabilities have the main contributions to the electrons’ transport within the plume region. The peak of the electric momentum force term, repre-senting the effect of the instabilities, overall shifts toward the plume as either the current density or the discharge voltage increases. The numerical findings are compared against relevant experimental observations reported in the literature.
Date Issued
2024-09
Date Acceptance
2024-07-30
Citation
Plasma, 2024, 7 (3), pp.651-679
ISSN
2571-6182
Publisher
MDPI
Start Page
651
End Page
679
Journal / Book Title
Plasma
Volume
7
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6182/7/3/34
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-08-06