Numerical and experimental research on the performance of an iodine-fed Hall thruster

The development of space technology brings about an increasing demand for electric thrusters. Iodine has been considered a feasible alternative to resource-critical xenon. Numerical and experimental methods are used to study the performance of the iodine-fed Hall thruster. The ionization and acceleration characteristics are investigated in the simulation with a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model. Different from previous simulations of noble gas, the dissociation equation of molecular iodine is added to the code for propulsive performance evaluation. A dissociation region in the discharge chamber is presented and described in detail. The propulsive performances of the iodine-fed Hall thruster are calculated by the plasma parameters. Meanwhile, the experimental measurements are finished for model verification and performance comparison at nominal conditions. The measured data is slightly lower than the simulated data. The error between them is about 1.65%. The reasons are analyzed and discussed. Then, the performance is predicted and measured using this simulated and experimental method within 20% mass flow rate and 10% anode voltage fluctuations relative to the nominal condition. Further optimizations of the simulation and experiment are in progress. •A 2D model of an iodine-fed Hall thruster is built to investigate the spatial axial profiles of important plasma parameters. Different from traditional PIC/MCC simulation for noble gas, the iodine molecular dissociation process is added to the codes. Based on the simulated results, the discharge chamber of the thruster can be divided into four regions: the near-anode region, dissociation region, ionization region, and acceleration region.•The experimental platform and equipment are built. The iodine ignition experiment of the thruster is finished. The performance parameter measurement has been conducted to verify the model.•Considering the influence of input parameter changes on thruster performance, thrust and anode-specific impulse with ±20% iodine propellant mass flow rate fluctuation and ±10% anode voltage fluctuation are calculated and measured, respectively. The simulated result is in good agreement with the experimental data.