Abstract: Electrical propulsion plume-spacecraft interaction plays an important role during spacecraft high efficiency operation. A fully three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation code was developed to simulate the steady-state plume of ion thruster. Immersed finite element (IFE) method, which is relatively new tools to handle interface problems, is utilized to resolve complex boundary conditions of electric field with structure grid. In this paper, we use the code to simulate Mo⁺ CEX ion deposition rate on satellite surfaces and analyze the contamination on satellite surfaces. It is found that the Mo⁺CEX deposition rate is lower on the satellite surfaces parallel with ion beam than on the satellite surfaces perpendicular with ion beam.

Key words: Numerical simulation; Ion thruster; Plume; IFE-PIC; Mo⁺CEX; Contamination

摘要： 离子推力器工作产生的羽流会对航天器产生影响,严重时甚至会造成航天器无法正常工作,为了精确评估离子推力器羽流特性及其对航天器的作用,采用基于粒子轨道理论(PIC, Particle-In-Cell)的模型对复杂的航天器的离子推力器羽流进行了数值模拟,并结合最近几年发展起来的浸入式有限元(IFE, Immersed Finite Element),采用结构网格准确计算复杂边界电场。通过模拟,获得了Mo⁺CEX离子在卫星表面的最大可能沉积分布,定量分析了卫星表面Mo⁺CEX离子的最大可能沉积率,表明在垂直于推力器主束流方向的卫星组件的表面上容易产生较大的Mo⁺CEX离子污染沉积率,而平行于推力器主束流方向上Mo⁺CEX离子污染沉积率相对较小。 

关键词: 数值模拟;离子推力器;羽流;IFE-PIC;Mo⁺CEX;污染