Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters: Design Criteria and Numerical Simulation

Abstract

In this report the status of research on steady state self-field MPD thrusters, both experimental and theoretical, with particular emphasis on design criteria is discussed. In the section on experimental investigations, the two MPD thruster types operated at the IRS, nozzle type DT and cylindrical thruster ZT, are presented and their characteristic features are analyzed. The problems associated with cathode phenomena are treated. The second section of this report concerns analytical studies of thruster phenomena and general instability. Specific instability Phenomena, particularly space charge instabilities limiting thruster performance, are presented in Section 4 with the aid of normal mode analysis and nonlinear development. In the last section, numerical codes developed and used in calculating MPD thruster parameters and a new development of a high order explicit TVD scheme Permitting accurate calculation of local gradients are discussed.