NDLI: Particle in cell simulation of plasma thrusters

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Matyash, K.
Copyright Year	2013
Description	Author affiliation: Greifswald Univ., Greifswald, Germany (Matyash, K.)
Abstract	Summary form only given. The Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method was used to study various plasma thruster concepts: Stationary Plasma Thruster (SPT), High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster (HEMP-T) and the cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT). In all cases PIC proved itself as a powerful tool, delivering important insight into the basic physics of the different thruster concepts. Two dimensional Particle-in-Cell code with Monte Carlo Collisions (PIC-MCC) was applied to simulate the operation of SPT and HEMP thrusters, in particular the plasma properties in the discharge chamber due to the different magnetic field configurations. Special attention was paid to the simulation of plasma particle fluxes on the thrusters' channel surfaces. The model resolves 2 spatial (rz) and 3 velocity components (2d3v). Using ion flux distributions calculated with PIC-MCC, the wall erosion of both thruster types was studied with the binary collision approximation (BCA) based Monte-Carlo code $SDTrimSP^{1}.$ In order to resolve the electron cross-field transport selfconsistently, accounting for plasma azimuthal dynamics, a new, fully three-dimensional PIC-MCC model was $developed^{2}.$ The model utilizes an equidistant Cartesian grid which explicitly assures momentum conservation and zero self forces. The simulation treats electrons, $Xe^{+}$ ions and neutral Xenon atoms. All relevant collisional processes are included in the model. The dynamics of the background neutral gas is self-consistently resolved with direct simulation Monte Carlo. The model was applied to simulate the operation of a 100 W CHT $thruster^{3}.$ In the simulation a spoke rotating with the velocity of about 2 km/s was observed in the thruster channel, which agrees very well with the $experiment^{4}.$ The initial position of the spoke was found to be strongly correlated with the cathode placement. The simulation has shown that the rotating spoke is associated with the strong azimuthal depletion of the neutral gas, which indicates the importance of the ionization for this instability.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	1
File Size	92497
Page Count	1
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781467351713
ISSN	07309244
DOI	10.1109/PLASMA.2013.6635220
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2013-06-16
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Decision support systems
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics Condensed Matter Physics Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in