Speed-Limited Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Hall Thrusters in 3D

The speed-limited particle-in-cell (SLPIC) algorithm is being investigated as a means for fully-kinetic 3D simulations of Hall thrusters (HTs). Fully-kinetic 3D simulations of HTs are needed because electron cross field transport, which decreases device efficiency, is primarily driven by the kinetic, electron drift instability. Traditional PIC is computationally slow because of the short Debye length and large plasma frequency in HTs. SLPIC, a time-domain algorithm that limits the speed of the fastest electrons, has the potential to speed up simulations by decreasing the plasma frequency and only resolving relevant phenomena like the electron cyclotron frequency. We have shown that SLPIC can simulate electric discharge, collisions, and wall interactions, which are relevant to HTs. We plan to benchmark SLPIC against other PIC codes and explore oscillations in HTs and their effect on electron cross field transport.

This work was supported by NSF Grant No. PHY1707430.