Author(s)

C. CHELEM & R. GROLL

Abstract

The magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) arcjet is a promising thruster which is developed for exploration missions to the moon and Mars, and for raising orbits of large space structures. The MPD arcjet utilizes mainly electromagnetic force, i.e Lorentz force J × B, which is generated in this work by interaction between the current density and a coaxial magnetic field azimuthally induced by the total discharge current. In the present notes, we describe the implementation of a density–pressure-based method for the simulation of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations under a finite volume formulation. This new algorithm was developed for both ideal and resistive MHD equations and make use of the central-upwind schemes of Kurganov and Tadmor for flux calculation. As we assume that the plasma flow is a continuum fluid, electrical conductivity is predicted according to the Spitzer-Harm formulation. With the developed model, a limited set of computer runs was performed to assess the effect of geometric scale changes on an Argon self-field MPD thrusters performance. The results are reported and discussed.

Keywords

central-upwind schemes, compressible flow, electrical conductivity, lorentz force, magnetohydrodynamic, magnetoplasmadynamics