惯性静电约束推力器放电过程数值模拟研究

为了研究惯性静电约束推力器(Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Thruster,IECT)的放电原理和工作机制,采用漂移-扩散流体模拟方法,基于圆柱形惯性静电约束推力器的结构,研究不同栅网线直径、栅网个数、推力器尺寸条件下等离子体放电情况和阴极电压、背景气压对推力器放电的影响。结果表明:在所研究条件下,保证阴极必要的几何透过率的同时,适当增加推力器栅网个数可以提高喷射离子密度,减小羽流发散角;随着阴极电压和背景气压的增大,推力器喷射的等离子体密度增大。但是,压强继续增大会达到临界值,等离子体被约束在推力器内部无法喷出,即喷射模式无法运行,故阴极电压与背景气压对IECT均有较大影响。     

Consequences of the application of the streamer fluid model to the study of the sprite inception mechanism

We present the results of a streamer-fluid model used to investigate the electrodynamical coupling between the troposphere and upper atmosphere due to the penetration of lightning electric fields into the mesosphere and the lower ionosphere, generating sprites. The model solves the continuity equation for electrons and ions coupled to Poisson equation. The dominant physical response of the atmosphere is the formation of a screening-ionization wave. The wave shields the atmosphere above it from the action of the lightning field and, together with the conductivity reduction below it due to attachment, the wave amplifies the total field below it, allowing for the penetration of intense electric fields in the mesosphere as it propagates downwards into regions of higher density that compress the wave. This is the key physical mechanism for sprite inception. We evaluated the effects of the thundercloud charge geometry, lightning current waveshape, atmospheric conductivity, via different electron density profiles, and the effect of ionization, attachment and electron mobility coefficients in the electrical breakdown process, related to halo production, and sprite streamer initiation. The results showed that electrons with higher mobility are more efficient in shielding the lightning electric field before breakdown, causing delay, and they contribute to the formation of the streamer seed after breakdown, anticipating the sprite streamer inception. Similarly, a higher effective ionization rate, produced by modifications in the attachment and ionization coefficients, anticipates sprite inception. The simulations with 6 different electron density profiles, and therefore conductivities, spanning 4 orders of magnitude, showed that the altitude of breakdown and sprite initiation, as well as their time delays from the lightning discharge are directly related to atmospheric conductivity: higher conductivities produce halo and sprite inception at lower altitudes with longer delays and may hinder sprite formation. We document that variations of 30 times in the lightning current leads to sprite initiation altitudes in the range 66.0–73.5 km, with delays between 1.550 and 34.500 ms, while variations of 4 orders of magnitude in the conductivity profile lead to initiation altitudes 61.0–70.6 km, with delays in the range 3.825–9.825 ms. Consequently, we suggest that lightning characteristics dominate over atmospheric parameters in determining sprites’ initiation altitude and delay. The simulation of a −CG, with a constant current of 30 kA, did not produce a sprite seed, confirming an asymmetry in the response of the atmosphere to positive and negative lightning. This is due to the free electron drift direction that is away from the screening ionization wave, preventing the formation of the streamer seed for the great majority of −CGs. The same does not apply to halos, which depend on the occurrence of breakdown and can be produced by discharges of both polarities.