CN111779647A

CN111779647A - Multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space application

Info

Publication number: CN111779647A
Application number: CN202010693656.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘佳; 余水淋; 贾晴晴; 金逸舟; 杭观荣; 田雷超; 黄浩
Original assignee: Shanghai Institute of Space Propulsion
Current assignee: Shanghai Institute of Space Propulsion
Priority date: 2020-07-17
Filing date: 2020-07-17
Publication date: 2020-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-17
Also published as: CN111779647B

Abstract

The invention provides a helical wave plasma thruster with multiple discharge channels and suitable for space application, which comprises: the device comprises a plurality of coupling antennas, a plurality of discharge chambers, an antenna bracket and a magnetic circuit; each coupling antenna is correspondingly arranged outside one discharge chamber, a plurality of coupling antennas are connected through an antenna bracket, and the coupling antennas share a set of radio frequency power supply (including a matching network) through the antenna bracket; the discharge chambers are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference; the coupled antennas are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference; the magnetic circuit forms an accommodating space; the coupling antennas, the discharge chambers and the antenna supports are arranged in the accommodating space, and the plurality of coupling antennas and the plurality of discharge chambers form an array and coincide with the axis of the accommodating space. The power of the helicon wave plasma thruster is below several kilowatts, the output thrust is below the Newton level, and the purpose of outputting higher power and higher thrust is realized by adopting a plurality of small-size discharge chambers and coupling antennas.

Description

Multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space application

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of space electric propulsion, in particular to a helical wave plasma thruster with multiple discharge channels, which is suitable for space application.

Background

The helicon wave plasma thruster has the advantages of simple structure, no electrode, high reliability and the like, and becomes one of hot spots for the development of space electric propulsion. Patent document CN106014899A discloses a helicon wave plasma induction thruster, which comprises a discharge cavity, wherein a first magnet and a second magnet are sequentially arranged outside the discharge cavity; the outer wall of the discharge cavity is sequentially provided with a helical wave discharge antenna and an induction accelerating coil along the axial direction; further comprising: the spiral wave discharge circuit is used for providing a working power supply for the spiral wave discharge antenna; the pulse induction discharge circuit is connected with the induction accelerating coil and provides pulse discharge voltage for the induction accelerating coil so as to drive the spiral wave plasma to accelerate and push out; and the time sequence control circuit is connected with the spiral wave discharge circuit and the pulse induction discharge circuit.

The conventional helicon wave plasma thruster adopts a main body design of a single coupling antenna, a single discharge chamber and a single magnetic circuit, and in order to achieve the design goals of higher power and higher thrust, a method of increasing the size of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber is generally adopted, and the design mainly faces two problems: firstly, the processing difficulty of the discharge chamber and the coupling antenna is increased; secondly, the thrust of the thruster is not increased in equal proportion with the increase of the sizes of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber. In order to solve the problems, the invention provides a helical wave plasma thruster with multiple discharge channels, the power of the thruster is in the magnitude of 10W-1 kW, the output thrust is in the magnitude of millinewtons to hundred millinewtons, and the purpose of outputting higher power and higher thrust is realized by adopting a plurality of small-size discharge chambers and coupling antennas.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects in the prior art, the invention aims to provide a multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster which is suitable for space application.

According to the present invention, there is provided a multiple discharge channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications, comprising: a plurality of coupling antennas 100, a plurality of discharge cells 200, an antenna support 300, and a magnetic circuit 400;

each coupling antenna 100 is correspondingly arranged at the outer side of one discharge chamber 200, and the axes of the coupling antennas 100 and the discharge chambers 200 are superposed;

the plurality of coupling antennas 100 are connected through an antenna bracket 300, the antenna bracket 300 is connected with a radio frequency power supply (the radio frequency power supply comprises a matching network), and the plurality of coupling antennas 100 share one set of radio frequency power supply through the antenna bracket 300;

the discharge cells 200 are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference;

the coupled antennas 100 are parallel to each other and distributed on the same circumference by radial axes;

the magnetic circuit 400 forms an accommodating space 500;

the coupling antennas 100, the discharge chambers 200 and the antenna supports 300 are installed in the accommodating space 500, and an array formed by the plurality of coupling antennas 100 and the plurality of discharge chambers 200 coincides with the axis of the accommodating space 500.

Preferably, the coupled antennas 100 share a set of rf power sources through the antenna bracket 300.

Preferably, the coupling antennas 100 together form a regular polygon.

Preferably, the front surfaces of the discharge cells 200 together form a regular polygon.

Preferably, the number L of sides of the regular polygon formed by the front surfaces of the coupling antennas 100 is equal to the number M of sides of the regular polygon formed by the discharge cells 200, where L is equal to M.

Preferably, a set of magnetic circuits 400 is shared by a plurality of coupled antennas 100 and a plurality of discharge cells 200.

Preferably, the accommodating space 500 enclosed by the magnetic circuit 400 is hollow and cylindrical.

Preferably, the array of the coupling antenna 100 and the discharge chamber 200 is coincident with the axis of the accommodating space 500 enclosed by the magnetic circuit 400.

Preferably, the coupling antenna 100 is wound on the outer wall of the discharge chamber 200.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. the invention adopts a plurality of small-sized discharge chambers and coupling antennas to realize the design purposes of higher power and higher thrust, and has small processing difficulty compared with the mode of increasing the sizes of the antennas and the discharge chambers.

2. The invention uses several coupling antennas to share one radio frequency power system through the antenna bracket, which reduces the complexity of the propulsion system.

3. The invention ensures that a single thruster unit consisting of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber outputs equal thrust through arranging the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber in the same space of the magnetic field, and the output thrust of the thruster is the sum of the output thrust of each thruster unit.

4. According to the invention, through the coaxial design of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber, the array formed by the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber is coaxial with the accommodating space enclosed by the magnetic circuit, and the same magnetic field of a single thruster unit formed by the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber is ensured.

5. According to the invention, a set of magnetic circuit is shared by the plurality of coupling antennas and the plurality of discharge chambers, so that the complexity of the thruster is reduced, and the envelope size and the quality of the thruster are reduced.

6. The invention provides a proper magnetic field through the accommodating space enclosed by the magnetic circuit, and ensures that a single thruster unit consisting of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber works normally.

7. The invention ensures higher energy coupling efficiency of the coupling antenna by winding the coupling antenna on the outer wall of the corresponding discharge chamber.

Drawings

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reading of the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a helicon wave plasma thruster with 2 coupled antennas and a discharge chamber according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a helicon wave plasma thruster with regular triangles formed by 3 coupled antennas and the front surface of a discharge chamber;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a helicon wave plasma thruster with a positive quadrilateral formed by 4 coupled antennas and the front surface of a discharge chamber according to the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of a helicon wave plasma thruster in which 5 coupled antennas and the front surface of a discharge chamber form a regular pentagon.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to specific examples. The following examples will assist those skilled in the art in further understanding the invention, but are not intended to limit the invention in any way. It should be noted that it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. All falling within the scope of the present invention.

The first embodiment is as follows: as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 3, the helicon wave plasma thruster with multiple discharge channels provided by the present invention is mainly composed of 3 coupled antennas 100, 3 discharge chambers 200, an antenna support 300, and a magnetic circuit 400; the coupling antenna 100 is installed outside the discharge chamber 200, the coupling antenna 100 is coaxial with the discharge chamber 200, 3 coupling antennas 100 are connected through an antenna bracket 300, the antenna bracket 300 is connected with a radio frequency power supply, and 3 coupling antennas 100 share one set of radio frequency power supply through the antenna bracket 300.

The 3 discharge chambers 200 are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference to form a regular triangle; the 3 coupled antennas 100 are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference to form a regular triangle; the magnetic circuit 400 forms an accommodating space 500; the coupling antenna 100, the discharge chamber 200 and the antenna bracket 300 are installed in the middle of the accommodating space 500, and the axis of the array formed by the coupling antenna 100 and the discharge chamber 200 coincides with the axis of the accommodating space 500. The purpose of doing so is to ensure that the single thruster unit composed of the coupling antenna and the discharge chamber is in the same magnetic field space, the thrust generated by the single thruster unit is the same, and the output thrust of the thruster is the sum of the output thrust of each unit.

The 1 set of magnetic circuit 400 is shared by 3 coupling antennas 100 and 3 discharge chambers 200, and the array formed by the coupling antennas 100 and the discharge chambers 200 is coincident with the axis of the accommodating space 500.

The second embodiment is as follows: as shown in fig. 2, the helicon wave plasma thruster with multiple discharge channels of the present invention is composed of 2 coupled antennas 100, 2 discharge chambers 200, an antenna support 300, and a magnetic circuit 400; the discharge cells 200 are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference to form a line shape; the coupled antennas 100 are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference to form a line shape; 2 coupling antennas 100 and 2 discharge chambers 200 share 1 set of magnetic circuit 400, and the array formed by coupling antennas 100 and discharge chambers 200 is coincident with the axis of accommodating space 500.

Fig. 4 and 5 show typical designs of the helicon wave plasma thrusters, in which the front surfaces of the coupling antennas 100 and the discharge chambers 200 form a regular quadrangle or a regular pentagon, respectively.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience in describing the present application and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present application.

The foregoing description of specific embodiments of the present invention has been presented. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and that various changes or modifications may be made by one skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. The embodiments and features of the embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other arbitrarily without conflict.

Claims

1. A multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications, comprising: a plurality of coupling antennas (100), a plurality of discharge chambers (200), an antenna support (300) and a magnetic circuit (400);

each coupling antenna (100) is correspondingly arranged on the outer side of one discharge chamber (200), and the axes of the coupling antennas (100) and the discharge chambers (200) are superposed;

the plurality of coupling antennas (100) are connected through the antenna bracket (300), the antenna bracket (300) is connected with a radio frequency power supply, and the plurality of coupling antennas (100) share one set of radio frequency power supply through the antenna bracket (300);

the discharge chambers (200) are parallel to each other and axially distributed on the same circumference;

the coupled antennas (100) are mutually parallel and distributed on the same circumference in a radial-axial manner;

the magnetic circuit (400) forms an accommodating space (500);

the coupling antennas (100), the discharge chambers (200) and the antenna bracket (300) are arranged in the accommodating space (500), and the plurality of coupling antennas (100) and the plurality of discharge chambers (200) form an array and coincide with the axis of the accommodating space (500).

2. The helicon wave plasma thruster of multiple discharge channels adapted for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein said coupled antennas (100) share a set of rf power supply through antenna bracket (300).

3. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coupled antennas (100) have front faces that together form a regular polygon.

4. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front faces of the discharge chambers (200) together form a regular polygon.

5. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of sides L of the regular polygon formed by the front faces of the coupled antennas (100) is equal to the number of sides M of the regular polygon formed by the discharge chambers (200), and L is equal to M.

6. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster suitable for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein a set of magnetic circuits (400) is shared by several coupling antennas (100) and several discharge chambers (200).

7. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnetic circuit (400) encloses a hollow cylindrical receiving space (500).

8. The helicon wave plasma thruster of multiple discharge channels adapted for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the regular polygon formed by the coupling antenna (100) and the discharge chamber (200) is coincident with the axis of the accommodation space (500) enclosed by the magnetic circuit (400).

9. The multi-discharge-channel helicon wave plasma thruster for space applications as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coupling antenna (100) is wound on the outer wall of the discharge chamber (200).