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| Title: | Erosion processes of the discharge cathode assembly of ring-cusp fridded Ion thrusters |
| Author (s): | Gallimore, Alec D. Rovey, Joshua L. Herman, Daniel A. |
| Department/Lab Affiliations: | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Space Systems Engineering |
| Keywords: | electrostatic probe diagnostic technique ion thruster probe positioning system |
| Issue Date: | 2007 |
| Publisher: | American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| Citation: | Gallimore, Alec D., Rovey, Joshua L., and Herman, Daniel A. "Erosion Processes of the Discharge Cathode Assembly of Ring-Cusp Gridded Ion Thrusters." Journal of Propulsion and Power, vol 23, no. 6, 2007. |
| Abstract: | An ion-thruster discharge-cathode-assembly erosion theory is presented based on near-discharge-cathodeassembly NSTAR plasma measurements and experimental results for propellant flow rate effects on ion number density. The plasma-potential structures are used in an ion-trajectory algorithm to determine the location and angle of bombarding ions at the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper. These results suggest that the plasma-potential structure causes a chamfering of the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper orifice. Results from tests with an instrumented discharge-cathode assembly show that increasing propellant flow rate causes a decrease in keeperorifice ion number density, most likely due to charge-exchange and elastic collisions. Combining these two results, the known wear-test and extended-life-test discharge-cathode-assembly erosion profiles can be qualitatively explained. Specifically, the change in the wear profile from the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper downstream face to the keeper orifice for the extended-life test may be a result of the reduction in discharge-cathode-assembly propellant flow rate when the thruster operating point is changed from TH 15 to TH 8. |
| Type: | Article - Journal text |
| In Title: | Journal of Propulsion and Power |
| Copyright Notice: | This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. internal discharge chamber FULL COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: |
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| title | Erosion processes of the discharge cathode assembly of ring-cusp fridded Ion thrusters |
| contributor.author | Gallimore, Alec D. |
| contributor.author | Rovey, Joshua L. |
| contributor.author | Herman, Daniel A. |
| contributor.deptlab | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering |
| contributor.deptlab | Space Systems Engineering |
| subject | electrostatic probe diagnostic technique |
| subject | ion thruster |
| subject | probe positioning system |
| date.issued | 2007 |
| publisher | American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| identifier.citation | Gallimore, Alec D., Rovey, Joshua L., and Herman, Daniel A. "Erosion Processes of the Discharge Cathode Assembly of Ring-Cusp Gridded Ion Thrusters." Journal of Propulsion and Power, vol 23, no. 6, 2007. |
| identifier.pub.URI | |
| description.abstract | An ion-thruster discharge-cathode-assembly erosion theory is presented based on near-discharge-cathodeassembly NSTAR plasma measurements and experimental results for propellant flow rate effects on ion number density. The plasma-potential structures are used in an ion-trajectory algorithm to determine the location and angle of bombarding ions at the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper. These results suggest that the plasma-potential structure causes a chamfering of the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper orifice. Results from tests with an instrumented discharge-cathode assembly show that increasing propellant flow rate causes a decrease in keeperorifice ion number density, most likely due to charge-exchange and elastic collisions. Combining these two results, the known wear-test and extended-life-test discharge-cathode-assembly erosion profiles can be qualitatively explained. Specifically, the change in the wear profile from the discharge-cathode-assembly keeper downstream face to the keeper orifice for the extended-life test may be a result of the reduction in discharge-cathode-assembly propellant flow rate when the thruster operating point is changed from TH 15 to TH 8. |
| type | Article - Journal |
| type.DCMIType | text |
| type.status | Final version |
| rights | This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. |
| rights | internal discharge chamber |
| rights.URI | |
| relation.isPartOf | Journal of Propulsion and Power |
| date.accessioned | 2007-04-11T17:00:48Z |
| date.available | 2008-05-20T15:05:17Z |
| identifier.persist.URI |