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Development and characterization of high-efficiency, high-specific impulse xenon hall thrusters
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Hofer, Richard R. Jacobson, David Technical Monitor |
| Copyright Year | 2004 |
| Description | This dissertation presents research aimed at extending the efficient operation of 1600 s specific impulse Hall thruster technology to the 2000 to 3000 s range. Motivated by previous industry efforts and mission studies, the aim of this research was to develop and characterize xenon Hall thrusters capable of both high-specific impulse and high-efficiency operation. During the development phase, the laboratory-model NASA 173M Hall thrusters were designed and their performance and plasma characteristics were evaluated. Experiments with the NASA-173M version 1 (v1) validated the plasma lens magnetic field design. Experiments with the NASA 173M version 2 (v2) showed there was a minimum current density and optimum magnetic field topography at which efficiency monotonically increased with voltage. Comparison of the thrusters showed that efficiency can be optimized for specific impulse by varying the plasma lens. During the characterization phase, additional plasma properties of the NASA 173Mv2 were measured and a performance model was derived. Results from the model and experimental data showed how efficient operation at high-specific impulse was enabled through regulation of the electron current with the magnetic field. The electron Hall parameter was approximately constant with voltage, which confirmed efficient operation can be realized only over a limited range of Hall parameters. |
| File Size | 9528587 |
| Page Count | 400 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20040084644 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t2r54kw41 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2004-06-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Spacecraft Propulsion And Power Hall Thrusters Electrodynamics Plasmas Physics Topography Xenon Electromagnetic Propulsion Magnetic Fields Spacecraft Propulsion Lenses Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
