Applied Sciences (Mar 2024)

An Analysis of the Effect of Hall Thruster Plumes on Surface Charging of a Complex Spacecraft Structure

  • Xin Zhang,
  • Wenjing Wang,
  • Chaopin Bai,
  • Yueqiang Sun,
  • Shichen Jiang,
  • Zhihao Yang,
  • Qiang Chen,
  • Lichang Zhang,
  • Liguo Zhang,
  • Zhiliang Zhang,
  • Ziting Wang,
  • Shuai Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062650
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 6
p. 2650

Abstract

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This article aims to conduct an in-depth investigation into the environmental impact of Hall thruster plumes on spacecraft surface charging. The non-uniform plasma plume generated by Hall thrusters may trigger charging and discharging effects, making the assessment of surface charging risks crucial. Through numerical simulations using SPIS system, this study evaluates the surface charging characteristics of a complex spacecraft in orbit, simulating the effects of turning on and off the thrusters, as well as varying distances between the thrusters and the spacecraft. The simulation demonstrates that turning on the thrusters significantly affects spacecraft charging, reducing the potential difference between spacecraft surfaces from 3740 V to 19.2 V, effectively alleviating electrostatic discharge on the spacecraft surface. The closer the thruster is to the spacecraft, the more CEX ions are collected on the surface, influenced by the beam ions, resulting in a surface potential change of 1.3 V, with minor effects on surface potential but contributing to increased deposition contamination on the spacecraft surface.

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