Comprehensive Study of Plasma-Wall Sheath Transport Phenomena
Abstract
In order to facilitate the development of the next generation of electric propulsion (EP) devices for USAF space assets and overcome current limitations in power density and specific mass, investigators from Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), University of Alabama (UA), and George Washington University(GWU) performed a comprehensive multidisciplinary study on the nature and transport properties of the interaction between a plasma and a confining wall material. Hysteresis effects observed in the floating potential of wall material samples immersed in a low-temperature plasma were studied. Hysteresis is found to be due to secondary electron emission from the wall material surface. The impact of surface roughness and sheath-scale surface profiles on space charge saturation of plasma sheaths was investigated. The preliminary results of models have proven that the thermal conductivity distribution largely impacts the crack nucleation and propagation process in boron nitride. The experimental investigation of the erosion of stressed materials was continued for fused silica and M26 borosil. The work shows that the evolution of theM26 surface is governed by the complex microstructure of the material.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 26, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1021890
Entities
People
- Greg Thompson
- Julian J Rimoli
- Michael Keidar
- Mitchell L. Walker
- W. Jud Ready
Organizations
- Georgia Tech