关键词: 脉冲等离子体推力器;放电室构型;放电电流;电感梯度;元冲量

Abstract: The mechanism and effects of discharge chamber configuration parameters on thruster performance are investigated by conducting discharge experiments on pulsed plasma thruster （PPT）， combining with theoretical calculation and analysis. The results show that the peak value of the discharge current decreases with the increase of the gap between the electrodes near the ablative surface of the propellant. The increase of the aspect ratio of electrodes leads to a higher value of the inductance gradient and a better performance of electromagnetic impulse bit. Considering the discharge current concentrates on the area near the propellant surface， the current peak is mainly affected by the gap between electrodes in the upstream of the discharge chamber. So the method of increasing the electrodes flared angle in the downstream of the discharge chamber is adopted， being aimed to increase the aspect ratio. Such separation could settle the paradox of increasing the current peak value and increasing the inductance gradient and synthetically enhance the electromagnetic impulse bit of PPT. Comparing with the rectangular propellant configuration of the conventional PPT， the V-shape configuration of the propellant could efficiently enhance the gas dynamic impulse bit of the thruster.

Key words: Pulsed plasma thruster;Configurations of the discharge chamber;Discharge current;Inductance gradient;Impulse bit