Electrostatic-magnetic-hybrid thrust generation in central-cathode electrostatic thruster (CC-EST)

摘要

The thrust characteristics of electrostatic-magnetic hybrid acceleration have been obtained in the central-cathode electrostatic thruster (CC-EST), which has a diverging magnetic nozzle and injects propellant through an annular slit on the inner surface of a ring anode. The electrostatic and electromagnetic contributions are evaluated by fitting experimentally measured thrust characteristics to formulae derived for steady-state, quasi-neutral plasma flows. The thrust is composed of two terms: one corresponds to the electrostatic acceleration interfaced by the magnetized electrons, the other to electromagnetic acceleration yielding a kinetic energy of swirl motion that is converted to that of axial motion in the diverging magnetic nozzle. The thrust performances of three thrusters having an axisymmetric shape with a hollow cathode on the centre axis and a diverging, applied magnetic field are examined. While only an electromagnetic thrust component is obtained in the conventional applied-field magneto-plasma-dynamics thruster, the other two, CC-ESTs, exhibit comparable, electrostatic and electromagnetic thrust components, and thus improve thrust performance.