Exploring Efficiency in Next Generation High Temperature Superconducting-Enhanced Applied Field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters: A Combined Numerical and Experimental Study

The integration of superconductors into space propulsion has emerged as a promising avenue. Superconductors have demonstrated significant effectiveness in space propulsion devices in terms of performance. This study introduces a low-power High-Temperature superconducting Applied Field MPD thruster, utilizing High-Temperature superconductors to propel plasma out of the thruster to generate thrust. Replacing traditional copper magnets with High-Temperature superconducting magnets has not only led to substantial improvements but has also addressed challenges such as the increased weight of traditional copper coils, the energy-intensive nature of copper magnets consuming high power, and the extremely low temperatures required by conventional superconductors, necessitating the use of helium cooling tanks, which can add to the overall weight of the thruster.The research combines numerical simulations with detailed experimental validation to evaluate performance. As predicted by the simulation model, experimental results demonstrate a thrust of 220mN at 15mg/s and 15.2kW, and 180mN at 5mg/s and 14.8kW, with a specific impulse of 2760s, while maintaining a discharge current of 200A. Additionally, the discharge voltage in the experimental setup increases with magnetic field strength but decreases with mass flow rate. Plasma fall voltage also increases with both the applied magnet field strength set by the High-Temperature superconducting magnet and the mass flow rate. Meanwhile, the fractional electrode fall voltage decreases with the applied field. Discharge voltage, plasma fall voltage, and electrode fall voltage are analyzed as factors influencing the increase or decrease in thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency of the High-Temperature superconducting-enhanced Applied Field Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster.Furthermore, the study concludes with a comprehensive examination of the High-Temperature superconducting-enhanced Applied Field Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, offering valuable insights for researchers. Notably, the achieved efficiencies for Applied field Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster at low input power surpass those of the same configuration with traditional copper magnet, highlighting the potential benefits of utilizing High Temperature superconducting magnets for enhanced performance.