Analysis of influencing parameters in ion thruster plume simulation

Effects from ion thruster plume have long raised concerns. However, little work has systematically analyzed the influencing parameters in the ion thruster plume simulation. This paper analyzes LIPS 200 ion thruster plume simulations about the influencing parameters. The numerical simulations are carried out by a hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) method and the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The PIC method is employed for the plasma dynamics, and the DSMC method is used for collisions. Simulation results were compared in detail to obtain the variation of the results with the parameters. Besides, experimental data were compared to simulation results to optimize the parameters. Finally, with these researches, the optimal parameters are obtained.