[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 8, 2406067 (2013)

Regular Articles

Numerical Modeling of Electrodeless Electric Thruster by Ion Cyclotron Resonance/Ponderomotive Acceleration
Fumiko OTSUKA, Tohru HADA, Shunjiro SHINOHARA1), Takao TANIKAWA2) and Takeshi MATSUOKA3)
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
1)
Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
2)
Research Institute of Science and Technology, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
3)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan
(Received 7 December 2012 / Accepted 15 March 2013 / Published 19 June 2013)

Abstract

We developed an electrodeless electric thruster that utilizes ion cyclotron resonance/ponderomotive acceleration (ICR/PA) for ion acceleration. We conducted test particle simulations to assess the thruster's performance. We compared the thrusts obtained using argon (Ar) and helium (He) gas as propellants at the same mass flow rate. On the basis of a model that includes ion wall loss and ion-neutral collisions, we estimated the exhaust velocity and thrust. We found that He ions are less influenced by both ion wall loss and ion-neutral collisions than are Ar ions because the gyroradii of He ions are generally smaller than those of Ar ions and the ratio of the gyrofrequency to the collision frequency for He ions is larger than that for Ar ions. In addition, the exhaust velocities of He ions are larger than those of Ar ions, as predicted by the quasilinear theory and ponderomotive potential. Consequently, the thrust and specific impulse for He are larger than those for Ar.

Keywords

electrodeless electric thruster, ponderomotive force, ion cyclotron resonance, argon and helium ions

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.8.2406067

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Fumiko OTSUKA, Tohru HADA, Shunjiro SHINOHARA,Takao TANIKAWA and Takeshi MATSUOKA, Plasma Fusion Res. 8, 2406067 (2013).