Abstract
In this study, the dynamic characteristics of beam perveance under thermal deformation in a three-grid ion thruster are analyzed and discussed by a combination of theory and experiment. Beam extraction in the apertures of the grids is simulated by the particle-in-cell–Monte Carlo collision method. The influences of thermal deformation on ion density thresholds in underperveance and overperveance conditions are analyzed and calculated. Finally, a verification experiment is performed. The simulated and experimental results show the gradually increasing underperveance threshold but decreasing overperveance threshold with the grid gap widening. Unlike under normal perveance in the cold state, the extracted beam exhibits a local anomalous perveance under thermal deformation with overperveance or underperveance occuring in the middle or edge area, respectively. The simulation and experimental results agree well with a maximum relative error of less than 4.1%. This work offers a reference for uniformity of optimization of beam density for ion thrusters.
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