相关论文: Fully kinetic study of facility pressure effects o…

We report on the experimental characterization of the RIT-2.5 radiofrequency ion thruster, complemented by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to establish correlations between plasma parameters and extracted beam properties. The thruster…

A compact helicon plasma thruster that features a cusp in its internal magnetic field is analyzed with experiments and simulations. A compensated Langmuir probe and a Faraday cup are used in the former, while a hybrid PIC/fluid transport…

Magnetic nozzles (MN) are known to be subject to anomalous non-collisional diffusion mechanisms driven by instabilities and wave-particle interactions. This study therefore employs a fully kinetic axial-radial particle-in-cell (PIC) model…

In low-collisionality plasmas, velocity-space instabilities are a key mechanism providing an effective collisionality for the plasma. We use particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to study the interplay between electron and ion-scale…

Gridded ion thrusters are tested in ground vacuum chambers to verify their performance when deployed in space. However, the presence of high background pressure and conductive walls in the chamber leads to facility effects that increase…

We use particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a collisionless, electron-ion plasma with a decreasing background magnetic field, $B$, to study the effect of velocity-space instabilities on the viscous heating and thermal conduction of the…

In a grid-less Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma thruster with a diverging magnetic nozzle, the magnitude of the ambipolar field accelerating the positive ions depends of the perpendicular energy gained by the electrons. This work…

Electric propulsion is now a sucessfull method for primary propulsion of deep space long duration missions and for geosyncronous satellite attitude control. Closed Drift Plasma Thruster, so called Hall Thruster or SPT (stationary plasma…

Plasma flow and acceleration in a magnetic mirror configuration are studied using a drift-kinetic particles-in-cell model in the paraxial approximation, with an emphasis on finite temperature effects and energy transport. Energy conversion…

The Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method was used to study two different ion thruster concepts - Stationary Plasma Thrusters (SPT) and High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thrusters (HEMP-T), in particular the plasma properties in the discharge…

Two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of an electrodeless plasma thruster, which uses a magnetic nozzle, were conducted to investigate the thrust generation induced by the internal plasma current. The results clearly…

High-power inductively coupled plasma (ICP) wind tunnels are widely used to reproduce high-enthalpy environments relevant to atmospheric entry and hypersonic testing. Despite their importance, radiative heat transfer in ICP facilities is…

In this paper, a coaxial pulsed plasma thruster was designed, built, and tested. This design confirmed PPT operation at substantially reduced discharge voltages of 100 to 200 V across the discharge plasma at a discharge current level of…

Using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation technique, the effect of gas pressure (5-500 mTorr) on the plasma spatial asymmetry, ionization rate, metastable gas densities profile, electron energy distribution function and higher harmonics…

The expansion of a magnetized high-pressure plasma into a low-pressure ambient medium is examined with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The magnetic field points perpendicularly to the plasma's expansion direction and binary collisions…

Magnetic nozzles are a key component of electrodeless plasma thrusters, acting as their main acceleration stage. Non-stationary phenomena common to the entire range of $E \times B$ devices, such as oscillations and instabilities, are likely…

The electrical environment of a ground vacuum testing chamber creates facility effects for gridded ion thrusters. For example, it is well known that the plume from the thruster generates current paths that are very different from what…

We investigate facility effects on a reduced-scale gridded ion thruster plume using a fully kinetic, three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision (PIC-MCC) solver coupled with a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) neutral…

High-power magnetically shielded Hall thrusters have recently emerged to meet the needs of the next-generation space missions. Even though a few such thrusters are currently undergoing their late-stage development campaigns, many unanswered…

A self-consistent model is presented for performing steady-state fully kinetic Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetised plasma plumes. An energy-based electron reflection prevents the numerical pump instability associated with a typical…