A high-power integrated spiral wave antenna

Abstract

The present invention relates to a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna to solve the technical problems that the current spiral wave antenna has poor cooling effect and increased overall structural size of the antenna when performing high-power transmission. The spiral wave antenna includes an electrode, a liquid channel is provided inside the electrode, and two liquid channel ports and two electrical ports are provided near both ends of the electrode. The two liquid channel ports are used to allow coolant to enter and exit the liquid channel; the two electrical ports are used to be electrically connected to an external circuit. The spiral wave antenna electrode provided by the present invention has a hollow liquid channel inside to facilitate the passage of coolant. Compared with the existing method, the contact between the coolant and the antenna is more complete, and the heat exchange effect is better. At the same time, the liquid channel is provided inside the antenna, which will not affect the overall size of the antenna, making the overall structure of the spiral wave antenna more compact, increasing the overall connection strength, and improving the radio frequency power absorption efficiency of the gas working medium inside the discharge chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a spiral wave antenna, in particular to a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna. Background Art

[0002] Judging from the current development history and future trends of power technologies for satellite platforms, space stations and large spacecraft platforms, high-power, high-specific impulse, high-thrust and long-life electric propulsion technology has become the focus of research in the aerospace field. It is the most effective technical approach to achieve future deep space exploration and long-term on-orbit missions of large platforms, and is of great significance to the improvement of the level of space propulsion technology and the development of space technology.

[0003] The high-thrust magnetic plasma engine uses helical wave ionization to produce high-density plasma. As the first stage of the magnetic plasma engine, the core task of the helical wave plasma source is to efficiently produce high-density plasma. The transmitting antenna converts the electrical energy of the RF power source into high-frequency electromagnetic field energy to ionize the working fluid in the discharge chamber. The transmitting antenna is generally made of pure copper with good electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. As the RF power increases, the antenna will gradually heat up. In order to ensure the stability of the engine operation, the antenna resistance must be relatively stable, which requires the transmitting antenna to have a reliable cooling structure.

[0004] Currently, if Figure 1 As shown, the spiral wave antenna generally coils a hollow copper tube on the surface of the antenna 01 and spot welds it, and passes cooling water into the cooling water inlet 03 of the copper tube 02, thereby removing the extra heat generated by the antenna during operation and ensuring the stability of the antenna's resistance. However, this design has certain limitations. First, as the RF transmission power reaches more than five kilowatts or even tens of kilowatts, the surface heat of the antenna removed by the water-cooled copper tube is limited, and the heat exchange effect is not ideal due to the spot welding structure of the copper tube and the antenna; secondly, the copper tube coiling on the outer surface of the antenna will inevitably increase the outer envelope size of the antenna, which reduces the insulation distance between the antenna and the wall of the vacuum chamber, resulting in a decrease in the reliability of the engine. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the technical problems that the cooling effect of the current spiral wave antenna is poor and the overall structure size of the antenna is increased when performing high-power transmission, and proposes a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna.

[0006] The technical solution provided by the present invention is:

[0007] A high-power integrated spiral wave antenna, which is special in that:

[0008] It comprises an electrode, a liquid channel is provided inside the electrode, two liquid channel ports and two electrical ports are arranged near both ends of the electrode, the two liquid channel ports are used for allowing cooling liquid to enter and exit the liquid channel; the two electrical ports are used for electrically connecting to an external circuit.

[0009] Further, the electrode comprises an electrode ring and a spiral sub-electrode;

[0010] The spiral sub-electrode includes a first spiral sub-electrode and a second spiral sub-electrode; the electrode ring includes a first electrode ring and a second electrode ring;

[0011] The first spiral sub-electrode is divided into a first sub-electrode and a second sub-electrode; the first sub-electrode is electrically connected to the first electrode ring, and the second sub-electrode is electrically connected to the second electrode ring;

[0012] One end of the second spiral sub-electrode is electrically connected to the first electrode ring, and the other end is electrically connected to the second electrode ring;

[0013] The two electrical ports are a first electrical port and a second electrical port; the first electrical port is arranged at an end of the first sub-electrode away from the first electrode ring, and the second electrical port is arranged at an end of the second sub-electrode away from the second electrode ring.

[0014] Furthermore, the two liquid channel ports are a first liquid channel port and a second liquid channel port; the first liquid channel port is arranged at an end of the first sub-electrode away from the first electrode ring, and the second liquid channel port is arranged at an end of the second sub-electrode away from the second electrode ring.

[0015] Furthermore, the first electrode ring and the second electrode ring are both continuous rings.

[0016] Furthermore, the electrode ring and the spiral sub-electrode are integrally formed by 3D printing, and the materials used are copper.

[0017] Further, the electrode comprises an electrode ring, a spiral sub-electrode and a wire segment;

[0018] The spiral sub-electrode comprises a first spiral sub-electrode and a second spiral sub-electrode;

[0019] The electrode ring comprises a first electrode ring and a second electrode ring;

[0020] The second electrode ring is divided into a first sub-ring and a second sub-ring;

[0021] One end of the first spiral sub-electrode and the second spiral sub-electrode are both electrically connected to the first electrode ring, and the other end of the first spiral sub-electrode is connected to the first sub-ring; the other end of the second spiral sub-electrode is connected to the second sub-ring;

[0022] The wire segment comprises a first wire segment and a second wire segment;

[0023] The first wire segment is connected to the first sub-ring, the second wire segment is connected to the second sub-ring, and the first wire segment and the second wire segment extend in a direction away from the first electrode ring;

[0024] The two electrical ports are a first electrical port and a second electrical port. The first electrical port is arranged at an end of the first wire segment away from the first electrode ring, and the second electrical port is arranged at an end of the second wire segment away from the first electrode ring.

[0025] The antenna's electrode and wire segments are designed as an integrated whole, eliminating the original connection joints between the electrodes and the wires, and avoiding the problems of local sharp point discharge at the connection joints and excessive RF power loss.

[0026] Further, the first wire segment has a liquid channel communicating with the first sub-ring, and the second wire segment has a liquid channel communicating with the second sub-ring;

[0027] The two liquid channel ports are a first liquid channel port and a second liquid channel port; the first liquid channel port is arranged at an end of the first wire segment away from the first electrode ring, and the second liquid channel port is arranged at an end of the second wire segment away from the first electrode ring.

[0028] Furthermore, the electrode ring, spiral sub-electrode and wire segment are integrally formed by 3D printing, and the material used is copper.

[0029] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0030] A hollow liquid channel is designed inside the electrode of the spiral wave antenna of the present invention to facilitate the passage of coolant. Compared with the existing method, the coolant is in more complete contact with the antenna and the heat exchange effect is better. At the same time, the liquid channel is set inside the antenna without affecting the overall size of the antenna, making the overall structure of the spiral wave antenna more compact, increasing the overall connection strength, and improving the radio frequency power absorption efficiency of the gas working fluid inside the discharge chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the existing spiral wave antenna cooling method;

[0032] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 4 It is a cross-sectional view of the electrode in the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] The reference numerals are as follows:

[0036] 01-antenna, 02-copper tube, 03-cooling water inlet, 1-first electrode ring, 2-second electrode ring, 21-first sub-ring, 22-second sub-ring, 3-first spiral sub-electrode, 31-first sub-electrode, 32-second sub-electrode, 4-second spiral sub-electrode, 5-first wire segment, 6-second wire segment, 7-first electrical port, 8-second electrical port, 9-first liquid channel port, 10-second liquid channel port. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Embodiment 1:

[0038] See also Figure 2 This embodiment provides a high-power integrated spiral wave antenna, including an electrode and two electrical ports arranged at both ends of the electrode; a liquid channel is formed inside the electrode, and the liquid channel is used to pass a cooling liquid; the two electrical ports are used to be electrically connected to an external circuit.

[0039] The electrode comprises an electrode ring and a spiral sub-electrode; the electrode ring comprises a first electrode ring 1 and a second electrode ring 2; the spiral sub-electrode comprises a first spiral sub-electrode 3 and a second spiral sub-electrode 4; the first electrode ring 1 and the second electrode ring 2 are both continuous rings.

[0040] One ends of the first spiral sub-electrode 3 and the second spiral sub-electrode 4 are both electrically connected to the first electrode ring 1 , and the other ends of the first spiral sub-electrode 3 and the second spiral sub-electrode 4 are both electrically connected to the second electrode ring 2 .

[0041] The first spiral sub-electrode 3 is divided into a first sub-electrode 31 and a second sub-electrode 32; the first sub-electrode 31 is electrically connected to the first electrode ring 1, and the second sub-electrode 32 is electrically connected to the second electrode ring 2; the first sub-electrode 31 is provided with a first liquid channel port 9 at one end away from the first electrode ring 1, and the second sub-electrode 32 is provided with a second liquid channel port 10 at one end away from the second electrode ring 2. The first liquid channel port 9 and the second liquid channel port 10 are used for cooling liquid to enter and exit. The cooling liquid in this embodiment is cooling water. The cooling water enters from the first liquid channel port 9, flows along the liquid channel in the electrode, and is discharged from the second liquid channel port 10 after exchanging heat with the antenna.

[0042] The two electrical ports are respectively a first electrical port 7 and a second electrical port 8 . The first electrical port 7 is located at one end of the first sub-electrode 31 away from the first electrode ring 1 , and the second electrical port 8 is located at one end of the second sub-electrode 32 away from the second electrode ring 2 .

[0043] With the development of 3D printing technology, metal copper can also be used in this technical field to achieve integrated molding. Using copper as the electrode integrated molding material has low cost and high efficiency. In this embodiment, the electrode ring and the spiral sub-electrode are made of copper.

[0044] Through integrated design, a hollow liquid channel is formed inside the high-power spiral wave antenna. When in use, cooling water circulates in the liquid channel to exchange the heat generated by the antenna. Compared with the original method of welding copper tubes on the antenna surface, the heat exchange effect is greatly enhanced, ensuring the stability of the antenna's resistance value without increasing the overall size of the antenna. For spiral wave antennas used in vacuum chambers, the reliability of the engine will not be reduced due to affecting the insulation distance between the antenna and the vacuum chamber wall.

[0045] Embodiment 2:

[0046] See also Figure 3 and Figure 4 The high-power integrated spiral wave antenna provided in this embodiment includes an integrated electrode, a wire segment and an electrical port arranged at one end of the wire segment away from the electrode. The electrode and the wire segment have a communicating liquid channel, and the liquid channel is used to pass a coolant to cool and exchange heat for the antenna in a working state. In this embodiment, the coolant is cooling water; the electrical port is used to connect to an external circuit, and the electrode and the wire segment are both made of copper.

[0047] The electrode includes an electrode ring and a spiral sub-electrode; the spiral sub-electrode includes a first spiral sub-electrode 3 and a second spiral sub-electrode 4; the electrode ring includes a first electrode ring 1 and a second electrode ring 2, wherein the first electrode ring 1 is a continuous ring, and the second electrode ring 2 is divided into a first sub-ring 21 and a second sub-ring 22. One end of the first spiral sub-electrode 3 and the second spiral sub-electrode 4 is connected to the first electrode ring 1, the other end of the first spiral sub-electrode 3 is connected to the first sub-ring 21, and the other end of the second spiral sub-electrode 4 is connected to the second sub-ring 22.

[0048] The wire segments include a first wire segment 5 and a second wire segment 6 ; the first wire segment 5 is connected to the first sub-ring 21 , the second wire segment 6 is connected to the second sub-ring 22 , and the first wire segment 5 and the second wire segment 6 extend in a direction away from the first electrode ring 1 .

[0049] A first liquid channel port 9 is provided at the end of the first wire segment 5 away from the first electrode ring 1, and a second liquid channel port is provided at the end of the second wire segment 6 away from the first electrode ring 1; the electrical port includes a first electrical port 7 and a second electrical port 8, the first electrical port 7 is provided at the end of the first wire segment 5 away from the first electrode ring 1, and the second electrical port 8 is provided at the end of the second wire segment 6 away from the first electrode ring 1.

[0050] The integrated design based on 3D printing integrates the antenna and the wire segment into one piece and provides a communicating liquid channel. On the one hand, it increases the heat exchange between the cooling water and the antenna to ensure the stability of the antenna's resistance. On the other hand, it omits the original connecting wires and the connecting joints between the antenna's electrodes and the original connecting wires. During use, it avoids local sharp discharges at the connecting joints between the electrodes and the original connecting wires and reduces the loss of RF power.

Claims

1. A high-power integrated spiral wave antenna, characterized in that: It comprises an integrated electrode, a wire segment and an electrical port arranged at one end of the wire segment away from the electrode, wherein the electrode and the wire segment have a communicating liquid channel, and the electrical port is used to connect to an external circuit; The electrode comprises an electrode ring and a spiral sub-electrode; The spiral sub-electrode comprises a first spiral sub-electrode (3) and a second spiral sub-electrode (4); The electrode ring comprises a first electrode ring (1) and a second electrode ring (2); The second electrode ring (2) is divided into a first sub-ring (21) and a second sub-ring (22); One end of the first spiral sub-electrode (3) and the second spiral sub-electrode (4) are both electrically connected to the first electrode ring (1), the other end of the first spiral sub-electrode (3) is connected to the first sub-ring (21); the other end of the second spiral sub-electrode (4) is connected to the second sub-ring (22); The conductor segments include a first conductor segment (5) and a second conductor segment (6); The first wire segment (5) is connected to the first sub-ring (21), the second wire segment (6) is connected to the second sub-ring (22), and the first wire segment (5) and the second wire segment (6) extend in a direction away from the first electrode ring (1); The two electrical ports are a first electrical port (7) and a second electrical port (8), wherein the first electrical port (7) is arranged at an end of the first wire segment (5) away from the first electrode ring (1), and the second electrical port (8) is arranged at an end of the second wire segment (6) away from the first electrode ring (1); The first wire segment (5) has a liquid channel communicating with the first sub-ring (21), and the second wire segment (6) has a liquid channel communicating with the second sub-ring (22); A first liquid channel port (9) is provided at one end of the first wire segment (5) away from the first electrode ring (1), and a second liquid channel port (10) is provided at one end of the second wire segment (6) away from the first electrode ring (1).

2. The high-power integrated spiral wave antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrode ring, spiral sub-electrode and wire segment are integrally formed by 3D printing, and the material used is copper.

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