Modified Electromechanical Modeling and Parameters Analysis of Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster

Yu Zhang, Jianjun Wu, Yang Ou, Jian Li and Sheng Tan
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Yu Zhang: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Jianjun Wu: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Yang Ou: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Jian Li: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Sheng Tan: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: To predict the thrust of magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters (MPDTs), a modified electromechanical model was proposed and a comparison with experimental results is presented in this paper. The motion of propellant in the thruster was divided into two portions: the axial motion which was accelerated by the interaction of current and induced self-field, and the swirling motion which was accelerated by the interaction of current and applied magnetic field. The electromechanical model was in good agreement with the experimental data, and the fitting degrees of the model were greater than 0.93. Furthermore, the influence of parameters on the performance of MPDT were investigated by utilizing the electromechanical model. The results indicate that the thrust performance of the thruster improved with the increase of discharge current, anode radius, applied magnetic field strength, and the decrease of mass flow rate. However, the large anode radius and low mass flow rate readily led to the failure of thruster function. Therefore, the model can not only predict the thrust performance of MPDTs, but also guide the design and operation optimization of the thruster.

Keywords: magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters; electromechanical model; thrust performance; discharge current; anode radius; mass flow rate; applied magnetic field strength (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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