Particle-In-Cell Simulation Of Heavy Species In Hall Thruster Discharge

Hall Effect Thrusters (HETs) are used for satellites applications, particularly orbiting at Low/Geo Earth Orbit (LEO/GEO) for telecommunications and government spacecraft because their efficiency and competitiveness if compared to other electric propulsion devices. Furthermore, HETs have a great potential because, in the future, they could be used for orbit transfers and interplanetary space missions. Computational modelling of plasma in HET has resulted interesting for several reasons. First, it can be used to predict thrusters’ operative life; this feature, indeed, is compromised by the contact of plasma particles with the walls of the device (erosion phenomenon). Secondly, it can help to understand better the physic of these devices; the electron transport across the magnetic field and its coupling with the electric field and the neutral atom density are the phenomena that make complex and non-linear the physics. Lastly, it can be used as a design tool for the next generation of thrusters. The behaviour of plasma heavy particles, namely neutrals and ions, has been analysed by means of axisymmetric Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code (kinetic model), developed to be coupled with a module solving fluid equations (fluid model) for electrons (i.e. hybrid approach for plasma). In this work only the PIC module has been developed. The discharge within the accelerating channel of the SPT-100 thruster has been selected as cornerstone test because the great availability of numerical and experimental data. The study has shown that the code was able to describe accurately the density and velocity of ions and neutrals, reproducing with consistency the physics within the accelerating channel of HETs.