Engineering Consideration for the Self-Energizing Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) - Type Fusion Plasma Thruster
Abstract
The major objective of the present study is to perform parametric studies of various DPF electrode configurations using an equivalent circuit model. The operation of the DPF device in the current-rise state is modelled using a transient code simulation of the equivalent circuit. Parametric studies of four DPF electrode configurations which include the tapered, cylindrical anode tip of the Livermore-I experiment, the anode tip with an equilateral triangular shape, the extended triangular anode tip, and the untapered cylindrical anode tip have all been performed. Besides the various geometrical shapes, the electrode configurations also depend very sensitively on the dimension of the anode length. The parametric studies indicated that both the equilateral triangular tip and the cylindrical tip configurations generated high sheath currents and F/W values while maintaining relatively similar values of I sub sp for all electrode configurations. The extended triangular tip geometry, however, performed less favorably to F/W values and the sheath currents, though the differences compared to the values of other geometries were not very significant. It is thus noted that adequate operating currents can be reached by optimizing the electrode geometry and the charging circuit voltage and that the equivalent circuit modelling provides a realistic basis for analyzing plasma focus pinch dynamics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA262785
Entities
People
- Chan K. Choi
- Glen T. Nakafuji
Organizations
- Purdue University