| Electromagnetic propulsion holds the promise of potential prime space propulsion by combining high exhaust velocities with high mass flow rates compared to other electric propulsion devices. The primary objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the plasma acceleration due to Hall effect in the presence of applied magnetic and electric fields. This is the first attempt to integrate a non-equilibrium microwave plasma with a Hall current plasma accelerator.; A linear Hall current plasma accelerator segmented with 5 pairs of electrodes was developed and tested. A non-equilibrium microwave plasma generated by a 6 kW microwave generator was used to feed the accelerator. The discharge voltage, current, and the Hall current through each pair of the electrodes were measured. Velocity measurement techniques including the MHD open-circuit, the combined emissive probe and MHD open-circuit, and the time-of-flight electrostatic probe were developed and implemented. The near field plasma properties were also measured by multiple Langmuir probes.; Theoretical analyses were conducted using both electromagnetic and electrostatic models. Both models predicted that large axial electric field and ionization fraction are critical to obtaining high specific impulse and efficient acceleration. The role of the magnetic field is to trap the electrons, and thus distribute the electric field across the whole plasma for acceleration of ions.; The experimental results show that axial discharge voltages increased with increasing magnetic field. A strong plasma acceleration zone was noted at the region closest to the cathode. Within this zone, the Hall current and Hall parameter are much larger than elsewhere along the flow path. So is the axial electric field. This suggested a very strong Hall effect in the accelerator. The mean Hall parameters varied from less than one to the order of 10 in the high power tests.; Significant acceleration of the plasma by the linear Hall current plasma accelerator was observed through this study. Specific impulses from 660 to 1500 seconds were measured at around 5 kW discharge plus 2 kW microwave power level with a limited applied current. The acceleration and efficiency showed strong dependence on the applied magnetic and electric fields. Efficiencies of 30–50% were calculated from the measured data in the high power tests. |
