Numerical Simulation And Experimental Study Of Helicon Plasma Thruster

With the development of the aerospace industry and the advancement of science and technology,the scope of space exploration by various countries has gradually expanded from near-Earth space to the depths of the universe.For deep space exploration,the demand for highpower,high-specification thrusters is increasing,and the thrusters must be able to work stably and reliably for a long time.Therefore,electric thrusters have been favored and came into being.It has been studied by lots of scholars.At present,the problems of electrode ablation and neutralizer life in most electric thruster systems have limited the development of electric thrusters.In response to electrode ablation,scholars have proposed electrodeless thrustershelicon plasma thrusters.Scholars have proposed the use of electronegative gas as the propellant of thrusters to eliminate neutralizers.The invention of a new thruster and the application of a new propellant will bring the development of electric thrusters to a new level.The helicon plasma thruster has been studied by many scholars since its introduction.There are still many unknowns about its working principle and characteristics.Electronegative gas is still to be investigated as a propellant.As a new type of thruster and propellant,the study of the working principles and characteristics of the thruster and the propellant is necessary.This article summarizes the existing domestic and foreign research results and related electric propulsion theories.Based on COMSOL multi-physics finite element simulation software,the plasma discharge process in helicon plasma thruster discharge cavity is simulated with the way of fluid method,describing the plasma transport process in the discharge cavity from a macro perspective.In this paper,a new electromagnetic field coupling method is used to effectively couple the electromagnetic field in the discharge cavity,which reflects the actual situation of plasma discharge in the discharge cavity.In this paper,important factors such as the magnetic field configuration,the input RF power,the input working fluid flow,and the discharge pressure that affect the helicon plasma discharge are simulated.Important physical parameters such as plasma density and electron temperature in the discharge cavity are compared,optimization of the simulation parameters is done to obtain the thrust and specific impulse required by the thruster.Based on the existing experimental equipment in the laboratory,a complete helicon plasma discharge device is designed,and experimental research is carried out.The inner diameter of the discharge chamber is 5cm,the length is 30 cm,the input RF power is 13.56 MHz,and the magnetic field current of the coils upstream and downstream of the discharge chamber is 110 A,an obvious helicon plasma discharge phenomenon can be observed.During the experiment,a high-voltage probe is used to record the voltage change of the discharge antenna during the discharge process.Through the change of the antenna voltage during the discharge process,the conditions in the discharge chamber can be clearly grasped.When the input power is about 180 W,the first jump occurs in the discharge mode,and when the input power is about 230 W,the second jump occurs in the discharge mode.