Analysis of power balance in a helicon plasma source
Manickam Vaithiyanathan, Hariharan
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/108138
Description
Title
Analysis of power balance in a helicon plasma source
Author(s)
Manickam Vaithiyanathan, Hariharan
Issue Date
2020-05-12
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Miley, George H.
Department of Study
Aerospace Engineering
Discipline
Aerospace Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Helicon
HIIPER
Helicon plasma
Abstract
This thesis analyses the Helicon Injected Inertial Plasma Electrostatic Rocket (HIIPER), a space propulsion concept consisting of a helicon source for plasma generation and an ion extraction method using a nested pair of inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) grids that are asymmetrically designed. In this study, the HIIPER setup was modelled based on the previous experimental data of the plasma characteristics obtained to account for various power loses and understand the major contributors to the low efficiency and final thrust performance. The loses to the quartz tube wall was substantially higher than the loses at the metal bellow region and the loses due to ionization and excitation. Future improvements in Langmuir probe design to characterize the plasma and the feasible changes to the experimental setup are provided in this study.
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