Hybrid Model of a Stationary Plasma Thruster Taking into Account the Finite Electron Mass

A mathematical model is proposed for studying the processes in a stationary plasma thruster (SPT), taking into account the ionization of the working substance, xenon, based on the hybrid equations of electromagnetic hydrodynamics (EMHD) of the plasma, which fully take into account the inertia of electrons. The choice of an EMHD model for studying plasma processes is predetermined by their small scale and low concentration of plasma particles in an SPT. The 1D2V case of plane symmetry is considered in detail, for which a numerical algorithm for studying solutions of hybrid equations of EMHD equations based on the method of macroparticles is constructed. A number of fundamental questions are solved: calculation of average values, interpolation, construction of the initial distribution of macroparticles, the choice of boundary conditions for the electric field, etc. The results of calculations with and without allowance for induction fields in a plasma thruster are presented. The effect of induction fields generated by plasma currents on processes in an SPT and the role of electron inertia have not been studied before, and the results obtained are original. In particular, a new nontraditional scheme for calculating the electric field based on the generalized Ohm’s law is proposed, which in EMHD is reduced to a boundary value problem for an elliptic system of equations for the components of the electric field and, among other things, requires setting boundary conditions. The need for the spatial and temporal averaging of electromagnetic fields when calculating the acceleration of the thruster plasma, taking into account the induction field, is an important result.