A study of grid failure mode drivers and methods for accelerated life testing of a 30 cm diameter ion thruster

Mingming SUN; Jianfei LONG; Juanjuan CHEN; Wei YANG; Weilong GUO; Xinwei CHEN

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/acdfa4

Plasma Science and Technology > 2023 > 25(11): 115502. > DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/acdfa4

Mingming SUN, Jianfei LONG, Juanjuan CHEN, Wei YANG, Weilong GUO, Xinwei CHEN. A study of grid failure mode drivers and methods for accelerated life testing of a 30 cm diameter ion thruster[J]. Plasma Science and Technology, 2023, 25(11): 115502. DOI: 10.1088/2058-6272/acdfa4

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A study of grid failure mode drivers and methods for accelerated life testing of a 30 cm diameter ion thruster

1.
Science and Technology on Vacuum Technology and Physics Laboratory, Lanzhou Institute of Physics, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
2.
School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, People's Republic of China
3.
Gravitational Wave Universe Taiji Laboratory, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, People's Republic of China
4.
Key Laboratory of Gravitational Wave Precision Measurement of Zhejiang Province, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, People's Republic of China
5.
School of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 404100, People's Republic of China

More Information

Corresponding author:
Mingming SUN, E-mail: smmhappy@163.com

Jianfei LONG, E-mail: ljf510@163.com
Received Date: March 29, 2023
Revised Date: June 04, 2023
Accepted Date: June 18, 2023
Available Online: December 05, 2023
Published Date: July 12, 2023

Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

In view of the high cost caused by the 1:1 lifetime verification test of ion thrusters, the lifetime acceleration test should be considered. This work uses the PIC-MCC (Particle-in-Cell Monte-Carlo Collision) method to analyze the five failure factors that lead to the failure of the accelerator grid of a 30 cm diameter ion thruster under the working mode of 5 kW. Meanwhile, the acceleration stress levels corresponding to different failure factors are obtained. The results show that background pressure has the highest stress level on the grid's erosion. The accelerator grid aperture's mass sputtering rate under the rated vacuum degree (1 × 10⁻⁴ Pa) of 5 kW work mode is 8.78 times that of the baseline vacuum degree (1 × 10⁻⁶ Pa), and the mass sputtering rate under worse vacuum degree (5 × 10⁻³ Pa) is 5.08 times that of 1 × 10⁻⁴ Pa. Under the influence of the other four failure factors, namely, the voltage of the accelerator grid, upstream plasma density, the screen grid voltage and mass utilization efficiency, the mass sputtering rates of the accelerator grid hole are 2.32, 2.67, 1.98 and 2.51 times those of the accelerator grid hole under baseline condition, respectively. The ion sputtering results of two 30 cm diameter ion thrusters (both installed with new grids assembly) after working for 1000 h show that the mass sputtering rate of the accelerator grid hole under vacuum conditions of 5 × 10⁻³ Pa is 4.54 times that under the condition of 1 × 10⁻⁴ Pa, and the comparison error between simulation results and test results of acceleration stress is about 10%. In the subsequent ion thruster lifetime verification, the working vacuum degree can be adjusted according to the acceleration stress level of background pressure, so as to shorten the test time and reduce the test cost.
- ion thruster,
- failure factors,
- acceleration stress level

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Key Laboratory Funds for the Science and Technology on Vacuum Technology and Physics Laboratory, Lanzhou Institute of Physics (Nos. HTKJ2022KL510003 and 6142207210303), Independent project of Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study (No. 2022ZZ01009), and Science and Technology Project Affiliated to the Education Department of Chongqing Municipality (No. KJZD-K202101506).

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