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Electromagnetic properties of a modular MHD thruster
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 1999
Abstract
The magnetic field of an annular MHD thruster made of independent superconducting modules has been studied with analytical and numerical methods. This configuration allows to obtain large magnetized volumes and high induction levels with rapidly decreasing stray fields. When some inductors are out of order, the thruster reMayns still operational, but the stray fields increase in the vicinity of the failure. For given structural materials and superconductors, it is possible to determine the size of the conductor in order to reduce the electromagnetic forces and the peak field supported by the conductors. For an active field of 10 T in a 6 m ray annular active channel of a thruster with 24 modules, the peak field is exactly 15.6 T in the Nb3Sn conductors and the structure has to sustain 108 N/m forces. The necessity to place some magnetic or superconducting shield is discussed, particularly when the thruster is in a degraded regime.
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- © EDP Sciences, 1999