2026-09-18T21:47:31Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/289052022-01-13T07:54:11Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Manuel Martinez-Sanchez.
Fox, Justin M., 1981-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
2005-09-27T18:58:47Z
2005-09-27T18:58:47Z
2005
2005
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28905
60493988
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-139).
MIT's fully kinetic particle-in-cell Hall thruster simulation is adapted for use on parallel clusters of computers. Significant computational savings are thus realized with a predicted linear speed up efficiency for certain large-scale simulations. The MIT PIC code is further enhanced and updated with the accuracy of the potential solver, in particular, investigated in detail. With parallelization complete, the simulation is used for two novel investigations. The first examines the effect of the Hall parameter profile on simulation results. It is concluded that a constant Hall parameter throughout the entire simulation region does not fully capture the correct physics. In fact, it is found empirically that a Hall parameter structure which is instead peaked in the region of the acceleration chamber obtains much better agreement with experiment. These changes are incorporated into the evolving MIT PIC simulation. The second investigation involves the simulation of a high power, central-cathode thruster currently under development. This thruster presents a unique opportunity to study the efficiency of parallelization on a large scale, high power thruster. Through use of this thruster, we also gain the ability to explicitly simulate the cathode since the thruster was designed with an axial cathode configuration.
by Justin M. Fox.
S.M.
139 p.
5667974 bytes
5686141 bytes
application/pdf
application/pdf
en_US
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Parallelization of particle-in-cell simulation modeling Hall-effect thrusters
Thesis
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