Hall thrusters with large height-radius ratio,owing to their unique advantages in compactness,lightweight,and high performance,have progressively emerged as a preferred choice for diverse space propulsion applications...Hall thrusters with large height-radius ratio,owing to their unique advantages in compactness,lightweight,and high performance,have progressively emerged as a preferred choice for diverse space propulsion applications in the future.However,the amplification of the annular effect in structures with a large height-radius ratio poses a practical problem of plume over-focusing,which seriously restricts the further improvement of Hall thruster performance and the extension of its life.In this study,the formation mechanism of over-focused plume is deeply investigated,and it is ascertained that an intensified radial electric field directed towards the inner wall within the channel serves as a key contributing factor.This phenomenon is fundamentally attributed to structural characteristics of large height-radius ratio that induce pronounced inward inclination of field lines within strong magnetic field zone.Based on this,the design concept of focused magnetic field is proposed,wherein straight magnetic field lines are established within the strong magnetic field zone to generate a quasi-axial accelerating electric field.Simultaneously,the symmetrical magnetic field inside the channel ensures ionization concentration near the channel center,thereby achieving optimal matching between the ionization zone and accelerating field.Experimental results demonstrate that employing a focused magnetic field significantly reduces the divergence half-angle of the plume and yields an excellently barrel-shaped focusing plume morphology in HEP-1350PM.Consequently,the total efficiency of the thruster surpasses 60%,while erosion belt on the inner wall is shortened by nearly 50%.These advancements effectively enhance thruster performance and prolong its operational lifespan.This study can not only resolve practical problems associated with plume over-focusing,but also provide a fundamental guiding principle for magnetic field design of Hall thrusters.展开更多
In this study,the neutral gas distribution and steady-state discharge under different discharge channel lengths were studied via numerical simulations.The results show that the channel with a length of 22 mm has the a...In this study,the neutral gas distribution and steady-state discharge under different discharge channel lengths were studied via numerical simulations.The results show that the channel with a length of 22 mm has the advantage of comprehensive discharge performance.At this time,the magnetic field intensity at the anode surface is 10%of the peak magnetic field intensity.Further analysis shows that the high-gas-density zone moves outward due to the shortening of the channel length,which optimizes the matching between the gas flow field and the magnetic field,and thus increases the ionization rate.The outward movement of the main ionization zone also reduces the ion loss on the wall surface.Thus,the propellant utilization efficiency can reach a maximum of 96.8%.Moreover,the plasma potential in the main ionization zone will decrease with the shortening of the channel.The excessively short-channel will greatly reduce the voltage utilization efficiency.The thrust is reduced to a minimum of 46.1 m N.Meanwhile,because the anode surface is excessively close to the main ionization zone,the discharge reliability is also difficult to guarantee.It was proved that the performance of Hall thrusters can be optimized by shortening the discharge channel appropriately,and the specific design scheme of short-channel of HEP-1350 PM was defined,which serves as a reference for the optimization design of Hall thruster with large height–radius ratio.The shortchannel design also helps to reduce the thruster axial dimension,further consolidating the advantages of lightweight and large thrust-to-weight ratio of the Hall thruster with large height–radius ratio.展开更多
基金financial support from the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2022YFE0204100)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U23B20152 and 52402479)。
文摘Hall thrusters with large height-radius ratio,owing to their unique advantages in compactness,lightweight,and high performance,have progressively emerged as a preferred choice for diverse space propulsion applications in the future.However,the amplification of the annular effect in structures with a large height-radius ratio poses a practical problem of plume over-focusing,which seriously restricts the further improvement of Hall thruster performance and the extension of its life.In this study,the formation mechanism of over-focused plume is deeply investigated,and it is ascertained that an intensified radial electric field directed towards the inner wall within the channel serves as a key contributing factor.This phenomenon is fundamentally attributed to structural characteristics of large height-radius ratio that induce pronounced inward inclination of field lines within strong magnetic field zone.Based on this,the design concept of focused magnetic field is proposed,wherein straight magnetic field lines are established within the strong magnetic field zone to generate a quasi-axial accelerating electric field.Simultaneously,the symmetrical magnetic field inside the channel ensures ionization concentration near the channel center,thereby achieving optimal matching between the ionization zone and accelerating field.Experimental results demonstrate that employing a focused magnetic field significantly reduces the divergence half-angle of the plume and yields an excellently barrel-shaped focusing plume morphology in HEP-1350PM.Consequently,the total efficiency of the thruster surpasses 60%,while erosion belt on the inner wall is shortened by nearly 50%.These advancements effectively enhance thruster performance and prolong its operational lifespan.This study can not only resolve practical problems associated with plume over-focusing,but also provide a fundamental guiding principle for magnetic field design of Hall thrusters.
基金This work is funded by the Defense Industrial Technology Development Program(No.JCKY2019603B005)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52076054,51777045)the Hunan Science and Technology Innovation Project(No.2019RS1102).
文摘In this study,the neutral gas distribution and steady-state discharge under different discharge channel lengths were studied via numerical simulations.The results show that the channel with a length of 22 mm has the advantage of comprehensive discharge performance.At this time,the magnetic field intensity at the anode surface is 10%of the peak magnetic field intensity.Further analysis shows that the high-gas-density zone moves outward due to the shortening of the channel length,which optimizes the matching between the gas flow field and the magnetic field,and thus increases the ionization rate.The outward movement of the main ionization zone also reduces the ion loss on the wall surface.Thus,the propellant utilization efficiency can reach a maximum of 96.8%.Moreover,the plasma potential in the main ionization zone will decrease with the shortening of the channel.The excessively short-channel will greatly reduce the voltage utilization efficiency.The thrust is reduced to a minimum of 46.1 m N.Meanwhile,because the anode surface is excessively close to the main ionization zone,the discharge reliability is also difficult to guarantee.It was proved that the performance of Hall thrusters can be optimized by shortening the discharge channel appropriately,and the specific design scheme of short-channel of HEP-1350 PM was defined,which serves as a reference for the optimization design of Hall thruster with large height–radius ratio.The shortchannel design also helps to reduce the thruster axial dimension,further consolidating the advantages of lightweight and large thrust-to-weight ratio of the Hall thruster with large height–radius ratio.
