Near Exit Plane Velocity Field of a 200 W Hall Thruster
Abstract
This work presents the near exit plane velocity field of the Busek Company BHT-200-X3 200 W Hall thruster at a single operating condition with a 250 V anode potential. The ionized propellent velocities were measured -- using laser induced fluorescence of the 5d47/2 - 6p35/2 excited state xenon ionic transition at 834.7 nm. Ion velocities were interrogated from the acceleration channel exit plane to a distance 107 mm from the exit plane (3.3 exit plane diameters). Both axial and radial velocity were measured. A nearly uniform axial velocity profile of approximately 13,800 - 500 m/s (130 - 10 eV) was measured at the thruster exit plane. The maximum axial velocity measured 107 mm from the exit plane was 16,800 m/s (192 eV). The divergent flow exiting the thruster acceleration channel mixes downstream due to the coaxial thruster geometry. This mixing is made evident by regions of multiple radial and axial velocity components. These regions also exhibit broadened fluorescence line shapes which are indicative of collisions between the various velocity populations. The regions where this mixing/collisional behavior occurs correspond to the bright visible plume jet. A limited study at off-nominal conditions near a region of high insulator erosion indicates that the impinging ion energy on the center pole insulator is predictability changed by flow rates and anode potentials; however, it also appears to vary significantly with magnetic field strength.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA416658
Entities
People
- Christopher Charles
- William Hargus
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory