An axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model of the acceleration channel of an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster is presented. A set of general relationships between the flow features and the thruster performance is obtained. The boundary conditions and the flow regime, which depends on the Alfven Mach number, are shown to provide the ideal limits of steady state thruster operation. In the present analysis, a Hamiltonian formulation of the MHD plasma flow model is adopted. This formulation makes it possible to cast the model equations in a variational form, which is then solved by using a finite element numerical algorithm. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi : 10.1063/1.3447876]
Magnetized plasma flows and magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters
Andreussi T;PEGORARO, FRANCESCO
2010-01-01
Abstract
An axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model of the acceleration channel of an applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster is presented. A set of general relationships between the flow features and the thruster performance is obtained. The boundary conditions and the flow regime, which depends on the Alfven Mach number, are shown to provide the ideal limits of steady state thruster operation. In the present analysis, a Hamiltonian formulation of the MHD plasma flow model is adopted. This formulation makes it possible to cast the model equations in a variational form, which is then solved by using a finite element numerical algorithm. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi : 10.1063/1.3447876]I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.