Operation Process Simulation Of Pulsed Plasma Thruster

By means of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the operation process of parallel-plate ablative Pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) was investigated. The work resented in this thesis was directed toward studying the influence of system parameters on thruster performance and developing a way to improve its performance.Firstly,on basis of the early theoretical models describing the operation process of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster—slug model, a gas dynamic model was detailed derived for the parallel-plate geometry to study the effect of the ablated mass on PPT performance. Two improved electromechanical models for PPT operation were presented in this thesis, one model adopted a modified inductance model overcoming the traditional model evaluated the inductance higher than the actual value, another adopted the inductance model considering the real geometry of the discharge channel of the PPT presented by Burton. The energy transformation process was described detailedly to find the factor that limited the efficiency of the PPT.Secondly, a software package with a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for the simulations of PPT with different models. To accomplish this, MATLAB was utilized. By contrasting the simulation results with data from the Lincoln Experimental Satellite (LES)-6 and the MACH2 simulations , advantages and shortcomings of every models were pointed out. Influence of variations of electric parameters (capacitance, initial voltage, inductance, resistance) and geometry parameters (distance between electrodes, width of electrodes, thickness of electrodes) and the ablated mass on thruster performance were analyzed.Finally, fundmental definitions and a few semiempirical relations were used to illustrate the design of such propulsion systems. Together with the simulation software were used to facilitate the design of a thruster to meet a specific performance level and provide a methodology to selecet a PPT to meet requirements.The results in this thesis supplied some theory supports for the applying of PPT in the future.