TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of plasma detachment in the magnetic thrust chamber using full particle-in-cell simulation
AU - Kojima, Tomihiko
AU - Morita, Taichi
AU - Yamamoto, Naoji
N1 - Funding Information:
The computations were performed using the Research Institute for Information Technology (Kyushu University). This research was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant number 17K14876.
Funding Information:
The computations were performed using the Research Institute for Information Technology (Kyushu University). This research was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant number 17K14876 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - A magnetic nozzle, which is a convergent-divergent magnetic field to control a plasma flow, has been investigated for application to plasma propulsion systems in spaceships. In the magnetic nozzle, plasma thermal energy is converted to one-directional kinetic energy by Lorentz force to generate thrust. Although magnetic field structure and strength are optimized for improvement of the thrust performance, it is essential to understand physical processes of plasma ejection from the nozzle, because the plasma may flow back along lines of magnetic field if the directed plasma continues being strongly magnetized. It is assumed, for one of the scenarios to explain a plasma detachment, that a plasma detaches from magnetic field when a cyclotron radius exceeds a scale length of magnetic field in size. Hence, we investigate a plasma detachment condition by analyzing parameters of the plasma for unmagnetization. We assumed individual particle motion of a fully ionized plasma in the magnetic nozzle and conducted a full particle-in-cell simulation in a two-dimensional coordinate system. We calculated a ratio of cyclotron radius to a scale length of the magnetic field. The ratio increased in a downstream due to variation of magnetic field induced from a diamagnetic cavity, suggesting unmagnetization.
AB - A magnetic nozzle, which is a convergent-divergent magnetic field to control a plasma flow, has been investigated for application to plasma propulsion systems in spaceships. In the magnetic nozzle, plasma thermal energy is converted to one-directional kinetic energy by Lorentz force to generate thrust. Although magnetic field structure and strength are optimized for improvement of the thrust performance, it is essential to understand physical processes of plasma ejection from the nozzle, because the plasma may flow back along lines of magnetic field if the directed plasma continues being strongly magnetized. It is assumed, for one of the scenarios to explain a plasma detachment, that a plasma detaches from magnetic field when a cyclotron radius exceeds a scale length of magnetic field in size. Hence, we investigate a plasma detachment condition by analyzing parameters of the plasma for unmagnetization. We assumed individual particle motion of a fully ionized plasma in the magnetic nozzle and conducted a full particle-in-cell simulation in a two-dimensional coordinate system. We calculated a ratio of cyclotron radius to a scale length of the magnetic field. The ratio increased in a downstream due to variation of magnetic field induced from a diamagnetic cavity, suggesting unmagnetization.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.hedp.2020.100814
DO - 10.1016/j.hedp.2020.100814
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084212801
SN - 1574-1818
VL - 36
JO - High Energy Density Physics
JF - High Energy Density Physics
M1 - 100814
ER -