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Characteristics of plasma properties in an ablative pulsed plasma thruster

Authors :
Yoshihiro Arakawa
Tony Schönherr
Frank Nees
Kimiya Komurasaki
Georg Herdrich
Source :
Physics of Plasmas. 20:033503
Publication Year :
2013
Publisher :
AIP Publishing, 2013.

Abstract

Pulsed plasma thrusters are electric space propulsion devices which create a highly transient plasma bulk in a short-time arc discharge that is expelled to create thrust. The transitional character and the dependency on the discharge properties are yet to be elucidated. In this study, optical emission spectroscopy and Mach-Zehnder interferometry are applied to investigate the plasma properties in variation of time, space, and discharge energy. Electron temperature, electron density, and Knudsen numbers are derived for the plasma bulk and discussed. Temperatures were found to be in the order of 1.7 to 3.1 eV, whereas electron densities showed maximum values of more than 1017 cm−3. Both values showed strong dependency on the discharge voltage and were typically higher closer to the electrodes. Capacitance and time showed less influence. Knudsen numbers were derived to be in the order of 10−3−10−2, thus, indicating a continuum flow behavior in the main plasma bulk.

Details

ISSN :
10897674 and 1070664X
Volume :
20
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Physics of Plasmas
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........2c87ef197297c9736b2a3ac41d8aab76
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4794198