Ion thruster accelerator grid erosion mechanism under extreme conditions of cylindrical erosion and chamfer erosion

In this paper, the abnormal experimental phenomenon on barrel erosion under extreme working conditions in the ultra-long life experiment(>10000 h) of ion thruster ion optics is studied by the Immersed-Finite-Element Particle-In-Cell Monte-Carlo-Collision(IFE-PIC-MCC) method and the grid erosion evaluation model. The transport process of beam ions and Charge Exchange(CEX) ions in the grid system, and the characteristics and mechanisms of the aperture barrel erosion under extreme erosion condit...     

Plasma transport simulation under different conditions and optimization analysis of dual-stage grid ion thruster

In order to study the extraction and acceleration mechanism of the dual-stage grid, a three-dimensional model based on the Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision(PIC/MCC) method is performed. Dual-stage grid ion thruster is a new type of electrostatic ion thruster, which can break through the limitations of traditional gridded ion thrusters, and greatly improve the specific impulse. The high performance also makes the grid sensitive to operating parameters. In this paper,the influence of grid pa...