两种会切场离子推力器对比研究

环型会切场离子推力器和柱型会切场离子推力器是当前广泛应用和研究的两种会切场离子推力器。基于30cm环型会切场离子推力器LIPS-300H和30cm柱型会切场离子推力器LIPS-300Z,对比研究了两类会切场离子推力器各自优劣及其机理。首先分析了两种会切场原理,总结给出了两种会切场差异,然后实验对比研究了两种会切场离子推力器束流均匀性、放电效率和寿命。实验结果显示：LIPS-300H相比LIPS-300Z在3kW和5kW工况下束流密度峰值分别降低25%和19%,放电电压分别降低7.8V和6.2V,放电损耗分别增加20W/A和32W/A,屏栅预测寿命分别增加6.7倍和3.2倍。试验结果表明：虽然LIPS-300Z比LIPS-300H具有放电损耗低的优点,但其较差的束流均匀性,较高的阳极电压和双荷离子比,使其在寿命和可靠性方面劣于LIPS-300H。

A Comparative Study of two types of Cusp Field Ion Thruster

The cylindrical-cusp field ion thruster and ring-cusp field ion thruster are two types of ion thruster which are widely used and studied. The advantage and disadvantage of two types cusp field ion thruster were comparative studied based on both a diameter 30cm cylindrical-cusp field ion thruster (LIPS-300Z) and a diameter 30cm ring-cusp field ion thruster (LIPS-300H). Firstly, the principle of two types of cusp field was analyzed, and their difference was summarized. Then, the uniformity of beam current density, the discharge efficiency and the lifetime were evaluated and analyzed. Compared to the experimental results of the LIPS-300Z, the maximal beam current density of LIPS-300H at the 3kW and 5kW operating mode was decreased by 25% and 19%, and its discharge voltage was reduced by 7.8V and 6.2V, which lead to the lifetime of LIPS-300H screen grid was 7.7 times and 4.2 times longer than that of LIPS-300Z, while the discharge loss of the LIPS-300H at two modes was increased by 20W/A and 32W/A, individually. The result indicated LIPS-300Z had a low discharge loss, but its uniformity of beam current density was worse and the discharge voltage and the doubles-to-singles ratio were all high. Therefore, the lifetime and reliability of LIPS-300H were better than that of LIPS-300Z.