Open AccessPreliminary Experimental Results of the PHALL II-C with Improved Magnetic Circuit Design and Hollow Cathode
Author(s) -
Alexandre A. Martins,
M. Casal Porto,
Herbert O. Coelho,
J. L. Ferreira,
Ivan Soares Ferreira
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1365/1/012025
Subject(s) - magnetic field , cathode , electromagnetic shielding , impulse (physics) , electrical engineering , dissipation , magnetic circuit , physics , current (fluid) , electromagnetic coil , aerospace engineering , nuclear magnetic resonance , engineering , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
We are going to present preliminary experimental results for our latest PHALL thruster of the annular type, which has been greatly improved with a new magnetic circuit design that allows operation with the magnetic field perpendicular (normal configuration) or parallel (magnetic shielding) to the thruster walls; where the benefit of this last magnetic field configuration is an improvement of three orders of magnitude on the thruster’s lifetime. For the first time, we will report on PHALL II-C operation up to 620 W with the generation of up to 41.39 mN of force and 2286.22 s of specific impulse, using a hollow cathode. These tests elevate the TRL of our thruster to TRL 4, with more realistic tests planned in our near future. We will also detail current work on the control and dissipation of thermal energy which will allow our thrusters to operate for long periods of time in space.