About the project
Electric propulsion (EP) continues to revolutionise space travel. Their intrinsic higher exhaust velocity enables new spacecraft missions, including large orbital changes for example enabling the redeployment of satellites over Ukraine for improved communication following the Russian invasion.
The vast majority of EP-enabled spacecraft utilise Hall thrusters, which offer performance at the ‘sweet spot’ in terms of a high exhaust velocity, but still satisfactory. However Hall thrusters currently fall short in terms of performance when operated at input power levels less than 100 W. This simple fact that micro-Hall thrusters do not work well is resulting in their intrinsic advantages for larger satellites not being exploitable for smaller satellites, directly effecting the manoeuvrability of micro (<100 kg) and nano (<10 kg) satellites.
This PhD study will investigate the loss in performance of micro-Hall thrusters through diagnostics of our current conventional micro-Hall thrusters, to gain further insight into the loss mechanisms involved. This investigation will be followed with a detailed simulation and experimental evaluation of different Hall thruster configurations, changing the geometry of the ceramic channel, and in particular the magnetic field, to evaluate whether changes in design configuration help alleviate the substantial performance losses.
The work will build upon previous work developing small Hall thrusters and cylindrical thrusters, our database of Hall thrusters, and our world class ion thruster testing facilities.
Funding for this project is offered by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Integrated Systems for Defence & Security (CISDnS), which will recruit candidates across the themes of Digital, Physical and Biological systems to provide a diverse cohort training environment.
As well as carrying out research training in a world-leading research group, membership of CISDnS will provide the opportunity for you to be trained to handle the interdisciplinary challenges faced in the real-world via a Systems Thinking approach.
You will learn about the wider challenges of research and innovation within the Defence & Security sector from both your peers and the numerous industry partners supporting the Centre.
This PhD studentship is open only to UK applicants. We welcome applicants onto the CDT from underrepresented groups.
