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Characterization and Anomalous Diffusion Analysis of a 100W Low Power Annular Hall Effect Thruster Megan N

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Characterization and Anomalous Diffusion Analysis of a 100W Low Power Annular Hall Effect Thruster Megan N Air Force Institute of Technology AFIT Scholar Theses and Dissertations Student Graduate Works 3-21-2019 Characterization and Anomalous Diffusion Analysis of a 100w Low Power Annular Hall Effect Thruster Megan N. Maikell Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.afit.edu/etd Part of the Propulsion and Power Commons Recommended Citation Maikell, Megan N., "Characterization and Anomalous Diffusion Analysis of a 100w Low Power Annular Hall Effect Thruster" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2226. https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/2226 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Graduate Works at AFIT Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AFIT Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CHARACTERIZATION AND ANOMALOUS DIFFUSION ANALYSIS OF A 100W LOW POWER ANNULAR HALL EFFECT THRUSTER THESIS Megan N. Maikell, 2d Lieutenant, USAF AFIT-ENY-MS-19-M-231 DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE AIR UNIVERSITY AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED. The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government. This material is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. AFIT-ENY-MS-19-M-231 CHARACTERIZATION AND ANOMALOUS DIFFUSION ANALYSIS OF A 100W LOW POWER ANNULAR HALL EFFECT THRUSTER THESIS Presented to the Faculty Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Graduate School of Engineering and Management Air Force Institute of Technology Air University Air Education and Training Command In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering Megan N. Maikell 2d Lieutenant, USAF March 2019 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED. AFIT-ENY-MS-19-M-231 CHRACTERIZATION AND ANOMALOUS DIFFUSION ANALYSIS OF A 100W LOW POWER ANNULAR HALL EFFECT THRUSTER Megan N. Maikell 2d Lieutenant, USAF Committee Membership: Carl R. Hartsfield, PhD Chair Maj David R. Liu, PhD Member William A. Hargus, PhD Member AFIT-ENY-MS-19-M-231 Abstract A Busek 100W low-power annular Hall effect thruster was characterized to determine the thruster’s best operating parameter range and to study plasma oscillations within the thruster. These experiments were conducted using xenon gas in the Space Propulsion Analysis and System Simulator chamber at the Air Force Institute of Technology on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The thruster’s performance characteristics were evaluated at nominal discharge voltages and constant total mass flow rate, solenoid current, and keeper current to determine the operating conditions optimizing divergence angle, beam efficiency, and discharge loss. This was accomplished using a Faraday probe to determine the plume’s current density profile at four radial distances. The plume’s divergence was between 24.29° and 35.95° with the smallest divergence at 275 volts, the beam efficiency ranged from 50.23% to 64.43% with greatest efficiency at 275 volts, and the discharge loss was between 383 and 438 W/A with the least loss at 200 volts. The thruster was also used to investigate the correlation between oscillating modes and thruster operation by collecting time-synchronous measurements of relative azimuthal intensity across the channel using high-speed imagery and global discharge current with an oscilloscope. Breathing oscillations during nominal operation occurred at 79 kHz according to discharge current measurements and 78.12 kHz with a standard deviation of 6.75 kHz as determined by the mean channel intensity. When the discharge power was decreased by 52.81% and the total mass flow rate was increased by 19.62% the breathing oscillations were 41 kHz according to discharge current measurements and 39.10 kHz with a standard deviation of 4.28 kHz according to the mean channel intensity. No rotating spokes were observed by the high-speed camera. iv AFIT-ENY-MS-19-M-231 Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Hartsfield, a professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Dr. Hartsfield provided invaluable guidance throughout the entire thesis process, including suggesting what papers to start my background research with, reviewing many versions of this thesis, and helping assess potential problems and solutions in the lab when things did not work as expected. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Major Liu and Dr. Hargus, for providing their valuable insight and critique. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge 2d Lt Avery Leonard who took the time to be in the lab while I was trying to fire the thruster to see how operation was going (or not going) and for letting me do the same. I would also like to thank Brian Crabtree at the model shop for manufacturing the aluminum mounting plate for the cathode. Lastly, I would like to thank the friends, family, and colleagues who read various versions of this thesis and provided helpful suggestions to improve its clarity and quality. Megan N. Maikell v Table of Contents Page Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv Nomenclature ............................................................................................................................... viii Tables ............................................................................................................................................ xii Figures ......................................................................................................................................... xiii I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Motivation ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Scope ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 4 II. Background ................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion ......................................................................................... 7 2.2 Hall Effect Thruster Fundamentals ......................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Plume Characteristics........................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Anode Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Cathode Characteristics ....................................................................................................... 14 2.2.4 Electron Drift ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.5 BHT-100-I-Specific Structure ............................................................................................. 19 2.3 Plasma Fundamentals.............................................................................................................. 21 2.3.1 Quasi-Neutrality and Debye Length .................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Maxwell’s Equations ........................................................................................................... 23 2.3.3 Assumptions ......................................................................................................................... 24 iv Page 2.3.4 Forces and Charged Particle Movement .............................................................................. 24 2.3.5 Classical Diffusion ............................................................................................................... 26 2.3.6 Plasma Oscillations .............................................................................................................. 27 2.4 Plasma Instabilities and Anomalous Diffusion Mechanisms.................................................. 29 2.4.1 Bohm Diffusion ................................................................................................................... 30 2.4.2 Near-Wall Conductivity ....................................................................................................... 30 2.4.3 Rotating Spokes ................................................................................................................... 31 2.5 Faraday Probe ........................................................................................................................
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