Plume deflection using an asymmetrical magnetic nozzle for an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster—An experimental demonstration and numerical analysis

Abstract

The plume deflection of an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster is demonstrated using an asymmetrical magnetic nozzle. The two-dimensional plume diagnoses are performed downstream the deflected plume, where the plasma density, electron temperature, plasma potential, ion current density and the external current are measured by the Langmuir single probe, Faraday probe and a water-cooled Hall probe. A maximum plume deflecting angle of 12°is achieved. And a high-electric-potential region named the deflection arm is found on the anti-deflection side of the thruster axis. To obtain more kinetic insights, a fully-kinetic planar particle-in-cell simulation is also conducted under similar operating conditions, and the general distributions of the properties are reproduced qualitatively. Related closely to the deflection arm region, the E×B-induced Lorentz force is found to be one of the dominant deflecting force under ion non-magnetization condition, besides the Lorentz force induced by the diamagnetic current. As for the other contributors, the inertia-induced and the stress-induced Lorentz forces are rather insignificant.