Simulation studies of RF excited micro-cavity discharges for micro-propulsion applications

A detailed computational modelling study of the micro-cavity discharge (MCD) thruster is presented. The MCD thruster concept incorporates a microdischarge with dielectric covered electrodes operated using alternating current (ac) excitation. The thruster geometry comprises a constant area pipe section followed by a divergent micro-nozzle. Two ring electrodes are embedded in the wall of the pipe section with the downstream electrode close to the pipe-micronozzle intersection. A microdischarge plasma is generated in argon propellant gas flowing through the thruster. A detailed plasma dynamics model coupled with the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is used to study the flow and plasma phenomenon in the thruster. Results show a highly pulsed microdischarge with plasma densities of ∼1019 m-3 and current densities ∼700 mA cm-2 for an ac excitation in the radio frequency (RF) regime of 10 and 20 MHz. The dominant gas heating mechanism in these discharges is through ion Joule heating. Higher electron densities and spatially dominant thermal source terms are observed for the 20 MHz excitation compared with 10 MHz excitation. The addition of 20% nitrogen to the flow resulted in much better performance compared with the pure argon cases. A peak gas temperature rise ∼200 K is seen for a cycle-averaged power deposition of 76 mW. For the conditions explored in this study, the overall specific impulse of the thruster operating with the microdischarge plasma is found to be about 25% higher than a corresponding cold gas case. (paper)