New Approach to Numerical Analysis of the Hall Thruster

The design of Hall effect thrusters (HETs) is typically based on empirical methods and experimental data. The complex physics of the HET prohibits the development of numerical analysis tools to aid and ease the design process. To obtain a better design procedure, this study develops an efficient, robust, and self-consistent 1-D numerical tool for HET analysis using a new approach. The numerical results compare with several HETs from 1 kW to 50 kW class. In addition to performance prediction, the analysis tool includes sensitivity analysis and approximation of radial magnetic field distribution from given performance goals.