Cathode erosion site distributions in an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster

Peng WU (吴鹏); Yibai WANG (王一白); Yong LI (李永); Baojun WANG (王宝军); Kaiyu ZHANG (张凯宇); Haibin TANG (汤海滨); Jinbin CAO (曹晋滨)

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/ab9172

Plasma Science and Technology > 2020 > 22(9): 94008-094008. > DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/ab9172

Peng WU (吴鹏), Yibai WANG (王一白), Yong LI (李永), Baojun WANG (王宝军), Kaiyu ZHANG (张凯宇), Haibin TANG (汤海滨), Jinbin CAO (曹晋滨). Cathode erosion site distributions in an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster[J]. Plasma Science and Technology, 2020, 22(9): 94008-094008. DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/ab9172

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Cathode erosion site distributions in an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster

¹ School of Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
² Beijng Institute of Control Engineering, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
³ School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China
⁴ Key Laboratory of Spacecraft Design Optimization & Dynamic Simulation Technologies, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
⁵ Laboratory of Space Environment Monitoring and Information Processing, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China

Funds: This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Program (No. 11872093).

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Received Date: December 24, 2019
Revised Date: May 05, 2020
Accepted Date: May 06, 2020

Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Erosion can influence cathode life, and is thus considered to be one of the main factors limiting the application of applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters. In this paper, erosion sites on graphite cathodes are studied so as to identify the influence of applied magnetic field and the ratio of propellant mass flow rate supplied from cathode and anode. The experiment results show that the application of applied magnetic field can significantly reduce the erosion rate of the cathode compared to that without magnetic field. The erosion sites on the cathode vary with the relative position of the convergent-divergent magnetic field, and are mainly distributed in the divergent part of the field. The erosion sites on the cathodes are found to be related to the propellant supply. The decreasing anode mass flow rate enlarges the range of erosion. These results are much helpful for the analysis of cathode erosion site location since they provide evidences of erosion mechanisms and point out the directions for further research.
- electric propulsion,
- applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster,
- cathode erosion,
- magnetic field,
- propellant mass flow rate

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References (39)

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