Application of hollow anodes in a Hall thruster with double-peak magnetic fields

Abstract

A low-power Hall thruster was designed with two permanent magnet rings. Unlike conventional Hall thrusters, this one has a symmetrical double-peak magnetic field with a larger gradient. Moreover, the highest magnetic field strength appears in the plume region; hence, the distance from the zero-magnetic region to the channel outlet is shorter than that of other Hall thrusters. This paper presents the law and mechanism of the effect of a U-shaped hollow anode with the front end in the zero-magnetic region and anodes at the first magnetic peak and zero-magnetic point (corresponding to the front and rear end faces of the U-shaped anode, respectively) on the discharge characteristics of the thruster. The study shows that the overall performance of the hollow anode under the same operating conditions is the highest. For the anode at the magnetic peak, although the ionization rate is the highest, most of the ions generated by ionization collide with the walls, causing greater energy loss and minimizing its performance. For the anode at the zero-magnetic point, although its maximum ionization rate is higher than that of the hollow anode, and the power deposition on the walls is slightly smaller, its propellant utilization and voltage utilization are lower than those of the hollow anode; furthermore, its overall performance is poorer than that of the hollow anode because of the short channel and shorter ionization region.