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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Electrospray thrusters are electric propulsion devices which consist of arrays of emitters, each tens of microns in diameter, whichemit an ionic liquid to be electrostatically accelerated, producing thrust. To accomplish this, a difference in electric potential mustbe present between the emitters and a conductive extractor grid. Thruster performance can be improved by reducing the distancebetween emitters, increasing thrust density. This proposal discusses the development of a molecular dynamics model of an electrospraythruster’s emitter array with an emphasis on the interactions between adjacent ion beams with increased emitter density and theevaluation of densification’s impacts on both extractor grid collisions and plume divergence. Additional emphasis is placed on aninvestigation of array stability and the propagation of instabilities which originate from a single emitter due to ion beam misalignment.The model can provide a platform to evaluate the effectiveness of various ionic liquids as propellant, supporting efforts to identifypropellants which mitigate damage due to grid impingement. The molecular dynamics model will be built using LAMMPS as a basicframework. A parallel Poisson solver developed by Stanford’s Plasma Dynamics Modeling Laboratory will be used to evaluate thechange in electric field due to interactions with the extractor grid. The model will progressively increase in complexity from a singleemitter in a two-dimensional simulation to a three-dimensional simulation containing a hexagonal arrangement of seven emitters.This work can be used to engineer solutions to problems of propellant accumulation on the extractor grid and stable device operation.The model can serve as a platform for further refinement of emitter array designs and a means of testing various ionic liquids aspropellants.
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