Electrode structure and electrode fixing structure for plasma thruster

Abstract

The invention discloses an electrode structure for a plasma thruster. The electrode structure comprises a cathode and an anode, wherein the cathode is a cylindrical cathode, one end of the cathode is inserted into a tube-shaped insulator with a through hole, the other end of the insulator is provided with the anode, a hollow cavity is arranged in the anode in a same axial direction with the through hole of the tube-shaped insulator, the sectional area of the cavity is progressively increased along the axial extension direction of the tube-shaped insulator, and threads are arranged on the inner surface of the tube-shaped insulator and are single threads, double threads or multiple threads. According to the electrode structure disclosed by the invention, through a reasonable electrode structure design, better electric heating acceleration effect is obtained by utilizing the aerodynamic force generated due to difference of pressures insides and outsides a tube after discharging, thus effectively improving the thrusting effect and the working efficiency of the pulse plasma thruster. With the adoption of the electrode structure, the thrusting effect is good, and a plasma obtained after discharging is large in density and has a simple structure.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of electric propulsion applied to microsatellites, relates to an electrode structure for a plasma thruster, and more specifically relates to a pulsed plasma thruster which uses the electrode structure to discharge the inner surface of a cylinder. Background technique [0002] For space propulsion systems, chemical propulsion systems and electric propulsion systems are currently being studied more. Traditional chemical mission propulsion systems are applied to micro-satellites, which have large mass and volume, small specific impulse, and complex structure, which greatly limit its application on micro-satellites, and various types of electric propulsion systems can just make up for this deficiency. It is an ideal choice for micro-satellite propulsion system. Among many electric propulsion systems, the pulsed plasma thruster is a small-thrust electromagnetic thruster, which has the advantages of high specific...

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Problems solved by technology

However, both patents set the insulating ceramic nozzle on the metal electrode, which will increase the resistance of the main discharge circuit and reduce the discharge current under the same discharge energy, thus affecting the electromagnetic acceleration and thrust effects of the pulsed plasma thruster

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