Lifetime extension in Hall thrusters

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23686123
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Aerospace engineering
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: NAOJI yamamoto 九州大学, 総合理工学研究科(研究院), 准教授 (40380711)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ホールスラスタ / 寿命評価 / キャビティリングダウン法 / 電気推進 / 光学測定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hall thrusters are a class of electric propulsion device in which a propellant gas is ionized and accelerated to produce thrust. They offer an attractive combination of high thrust efficiency (exceeding 50%) and specific impulse (~1,000-3,000 s). A key requirement for the practical use of Hall thrusters is the ability to operate for long durations (more than 10,000 hrs). For optimization of lifetime, What is needed, is a method of quantitatively measuring thruster erosion rates non-intrusively in real- or near real-time, for example by in situ measurement of the eroded wall material The primary life-limiter for Hall thrusters is acceleration channel wall erosion. Therefore, we have developed a CRDS erosion sensor and have made a study on the dependence of erosion rate on magnetic field configuration.

Free Research Field

航空宇宙工学