High Current Cathode Thermal Behavior, Part II: Theory

Abstract

Cathode erosion is one of the life limiting mechanisms for several classes of electric thrusters. Since cathode erosion is strongly dependent on the cathode temperature, a quantitative understanding of the effects of cathode operation on the cathode temperature is required. The development of a cathode/plasma interaction model for determining the heat loads to the cathode as function of the various free stream plasma parameters is presented. This model is combined with a cathode thermal model in order to provide a complete and integrated picture of high current cathode operation.