中国空间科学技术 ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (5): 105-117.doi: 10.16708/j.cnki.1000-758X.2026.0081

• 空间电推进技术前沿与发展专栏 • 上一篇    下一篇

低功率变截面平板霍尔推力器设计与测试

孔维一1,张广川1,2,李亦非1,王骥勤1,王伟宗1,3,*   

  1. 1.北京航空航天大学宇航学院,北京102206
    2.可重复使用空天运载器系统设计北京市重点实验室,北京102206
    3.天地往返高效运输技术全国重点实验室,北京102206
  • 收稿日期:2025-12-09 修回日期:2026-03-06 录用日期:2026-04-16 发布日期:2026-09-23 出版日期:2026-09-30

Design and testing of a low-power planar Hall thruster with a gas chamber

KONG Weiyi1,ZHANG Guangchuan1,2,LI Yifei1,WANG Jiqin1,WANG Weizong1,3,*   

  1. 1.School of Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing 102206, China
    2.Beijing Key Laboratory of System Design for Reusable Launch Vehicle, Beijing 102206, China
    3.State Key Laboratory of High-Efficiency Reusable Aerospace Transportation Technology, Beijing 102206, China
  • Received:2025-12-09 Revision received:2026-03-06 Accepted:2026-04-16 Online:2026-09-23 Published:2026-09-30

摘要: 为改善平板霍尔推力器(Planar Hall Thruster,PHT)在开放空间中工质迅速扩散导致电离不充分的问题,设计并测试了一种带有浅气腔的新型变截面平板霍尔推力器(Planar Hall Thruster with a Gas Chamber,PHT-C)。采用实验方法,对PHT-C与PHT的放电特性、推力性能与束流特性开展了比较分析。实验表明,PHT-C具有更低的点火电压,这得益于浅气腔对工质的汇聚效应。PHT-C的推力与比冲均优于PHT,在功率低于500W时,PHT-C最大推力与比冲分别达到15.8mN和1828.0s。在高阳极电压、中低阳极流量工况下,PHT-C更高的工质利用率与束流发散效率使得其阳极效率升高,阳极效率较PHT最大提升35.0%。此外,PHT-C的束流分布由经典PHT的三峰结构转变为更集中的双峰结构,有助于减少离子束流对周边器件的溅射。本研究通过在PHT中引入浅气腔缓解开放空间中工质扩散过快的问题,提升了推力器性能,为PHT的优化设计提供了新的技术途径。

关键词: 低功率电推进, 平板霍尔推力器, 工质输运优化, 阳极效率, 工质利用率

Abstract: To address the issue of insufficient ionization caused by rapid propellant diffusion in Planar Hall Thruster (PHT), a modified PHT with a shallow gas chamber (PHT-C) was designed. A comparative experimental study was conducted to investigate the discharge characteristics, thrust performance, and beam properties of the PHT-C and the conventional PHT. The results show that the shallow gas chamber effectively concentrates the propellant, leading to a lower ignition voltage for the PHT-C. The thrust and specific impulse of the PHT-C outperform those of the PHT, reaching maximum values of 15.8mN and 1828.0s, respectively, at a power below 500W. Under high anode voltage and low-to-medium anode flow rates, the PHT-C achieves higher propellant utilization and beam divergence efficiency, resulting in a maximum relative improvement in anode efficiency of 35.0% compared with the conventional PHT. Additionally, its beam transitions from the triple-peak structure of the conventional PHT to a more focused double-peak structure, which helps reduce sputtering on components at large angles. This study introduces a shallow gas chamber into the PHT, which mitigates the excessive propellant diffusion in open space and enhances performance, providing a novel method for the optimization of PHTs.

Key words: low-power electric propulsion, planar Hall thruster, propellant transport optimization, anode efficiency, propellant utilization efficiency