NASA/CR-2009-215635, Goodman, M. and Kazeminezhad, F. and Owens, T., Pulsed Plasma Accelerator Modeling, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20546–0001, January, 2009, pp. 52, Format(s): PDF 31378k |
This report presents the main results of the modeling task of the PPA project. The objective of this task is to make
major progress towards developing a new computational tool with new capabilities for simulating cylindrically symmetric
2.5 dimensional (2.5 D) PPA’s. This tool may be used for designing, optimizing, and understanding the operation
of PPA’s and other pulsed power devices. The foundation for this task is the 2-D, cylindrically symmetric, magnetohydrodynamic
(MHD) code PCAPPS (Princeton Code for Advanced Plasma Propulsion Simulation). PCAPPS
was originally developed by Sankaran (2001, 2005) to model Lithium Lorentz Force Accelerators (LLFA’s), which
are eletrode based devices, and are typically operated in continuous magnetic field to the model, and implementing a
first principles, self-consistent algorithm to couple the plasma and power circuit that drives the plasma dynamics.
| Keywords: | electric propulsion, pulsed plasma accelerator, pulsed inductive thruster, pulsed power, plasma modeling |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Astronautics: Spacecraft Propulsion And Power |
| ID Code: | 797 |
| Deposited On: | 04 February 2009 |