Clarification and Control of Micro Plasma Flow with Wall Interaction

Summary

Micro plasma flow generated in the channel of a hall-effect accelerator is clarified using unsteady numerical analysis and with experimental data by highlighting on propellant temperature, plasma parameters and channel-wall condition in order to suppress plasma instability and magnetic-pole overheating, and the following findings are obtained: “Average length of ionization-zone” introduced as a new physical parameter, which could be varied by neutral particles velocity, is correlated conversely with large-amplitude of plasma instability that should be solved to improve the operational stability and the system durability. Then we propose an enhanced hall-effect accelerator with new design concepts giving simultaneous solution for reducing the instability and the accelerator core overheating. And the mechanisms of controlling amplitude are clarified from the viewpoint of the spatiotemporal variations of plasma parameters and electromagnetic field when neutral species temperature is changed.