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High Energy Plume Impingement on Spacecraft Systems AFOSR Telecon. Jarred Alexander Young February 26, 2013. Current Events. Beam Analysis Looked at energy peaks for varying anode voltages Looked at current extraction capabilities as function of Discharge Voltage Accel Grid Voltage
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High Energy Plume Impingement on Spacecraft SystemsAFOSR Telecon Jarred Alexander Young February 26, 2013
Current Events • Beam Analysis • Looked at energy peaks for varying anode voltages • Looked at current extraction capabilities as function of • Discharge Voltage • Accel Grid Voltage • Examined beam current as function of radial position • Performed sample testing at two different energy levels for 8 samples • Fixed all remaining ion engine glitches
Beam Testing Picoammeter switching
Beam Testing Results • Energy Range: 95-259 eV • Beam Current • Max recorded: 3.5 μA (RPA) • Current should scale as ~(90mm/5mm)2 • Calculated total beam current: 1.134 mA • Calculated Current Density: 0.18 μA/mm2 • Calculated Flux Level: 1.11E18 #/m2-s • Accel bias has strong effect on beam current extraction • Discharge bias has moderate effect on current extraction, but may help improve beam focus
Material Testing • Performed plume exposure tests on Si coupons • Test Parameters • Energy levels: 150 & 250 eV • Exposure times comparable to deposition of 50, 100, or 150 monolayers • Distance from Beam Exit: ~2 cm • Scanned samples for Argon and Tungsten atoms
Material Testing • Scanned coupons with Hitachi SU-70 Field SEM machine w/EDS • All 150 eV samples didn’t show any notable damage
Material Testing Results • Showed that samples may be doped with Argon • Data not conclusive until EDS scan of control sample is performed • Surface is relative undamaged from 150 eV for those exposure times
Future Work • Finish sample SEM scans and ship samples to ISU • Perform axial beam data collection • Looking at distance from engine vs. energy distribution • Compile data for PSU ion engine simulation