External Hall Effect Thruster Surface Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Hall effect thrusters occupy significant space within spacecraft due to their annular nozzle design, cluttering the internal space and limiting payload capacity.
Innovation Solution
The thruster is redesigned to operate externally, with a magnetic and electric circuit arranged around a cylindrical wall of the spacecraft, generating fields that trap electrons and accelerate particles outside the spacecraft, allowing for a more compact and efficient thrust generation system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an annular nozzle is used to generate radial magnetic field, then the magnetic circuit can generate a radial magnetic field for thruster operation, but the internal space of the spacecraft becomes particularly cluttered
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the particle acceleration function from the internal nozzle structure and relocates it to the external surface of the spacecraft. The magnetic circuit and electric circuit are positioned on the external surface, with magnetic poles facing outward to generate fields in the external environment, thereby removing the bulky internal nozzle and freeing up internal spacecraft volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention inverts the conventional thruster design by placing the magnetic circuit and electric circuit on the external surface of the spacecraft rather than inside. The acceleration of particles occurs outside the spacecraft in the external environment, reversing the traditional internal acceleration approach and eliminating the need for internal nozzle structures.
2Force
If magnetic circuit and electric circuit are arranged inside the spacecraft, then thrust can be generated, but the bulk of the thruster occupies significant space within the spacecraft
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions the thruster system from a three-dimensional internal volume occupation to a two-dimensional surface arrangement. The magnetic circuit and electric circuit are distributed on the external surface of the spacecraft, utilizing the surface dimension rather than consuming internal volume, thereby generating thrust without increasing thruster bulk inside the spacecraft.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the thrust generation components (magnetic circuit and electric circuit) from the internal space and relocates them to the external surface of the spacecraft. This extraction eliminates the need for internal space occupation while maintaining the thrust generation capability through external field interaction.
3Productivity
If conventional internal thruster design is used, then particle acceleration can be achieved, but payload capacity is limited due to cluttered internal space
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the particle acceleration function from internal structures and relocates it to the external surface environment. By performing acceleration outside the spacecraft using external magnetic and electric fields, the internal space is freed up, increasing the available volume for payload while maintaining productivity through external field-based particle acceleration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces the bulk of the thruster within the spacecraft, freeing up internal space for payload and enabling long-term altitude maintenance and orbital corrections without the need for a propellant gas supply.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic circuit for generating a magnetic field; the magnetic circuit and the electric circuit are arranged so as to generate magnetic and electric fields around the wall
Implementation Method 2
an electric circuit comprising an anode, a first cathode, and an electric voltage source for emitting electrons at least via the first cathode and attracting electrons via the anode
Implementation Method 3
Hall effect thruster, and spacecraft including such a thruster
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a Hall effect thruster (10) arranged inside a wall (22) and comprising a magnetic circuit (30) and an electrical circuit (60) including an anode (62), a first cathode (64), and an electrical voltage source (68). The magnetic circuit and electrical circuit are arranged so as to generate magnetic (B) and electrical (E) fields around the wall (22). In each meridional cross-section, the magnetic circuit (30) has an upstream magnetic pole (50) and a downstream magnetic pole (52) that are arranged spaced apart from each other on the surface of the wall. The anode (62) and the first cathode (64) are located on either side of the upstream magnetic pole (50).