Stuttgart 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 15: Poster: Theorie/Modellierung
P 15.15: Poster
Mittwoch, 14. März 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.III
Three-dimensional Plasma Discharge Simulation in a µN Radiofrequency Ionthruster (RIT) — •Robert Henrich and Christian Heiliger — I. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, D-35392, Germany
The µN Radiofrequency Ionthruster (RIT) is a very promising candidate for a high precision positioning of spacecrafts. In this system the plasma is produced in a cylindrical vessel surrounded by a coil. The typical gas pressure in such a system is in the range of 10−3 Pa. Due to the low particle interaction the usual tool to describe the plasma is the Particle in Cell method (PIC). A full three dimensional simulation of a volume with the dimension of a cubic centimeter would require a large amount of calculation time and consequent data generation. Therefore, a common simplification is the treatment of a two dimensional system with rotational symmetry. However the use of this simplified model does not accurately represent the true non-symmetrical system. Furthermore, the simplified method uses a non-uniform grid which can lead to self-acceleration of the charged particles. Thereby, the resulting magnitude of error is unknown in this two dimensional simulation. In this poster we analyze these possible errors and give an assessment of which cases require a full three dimensional simulation rather than the simplified treatment.