An experimental study on the magnetic field permeability of an inductive-pulsed plasma thruster

Abstract Inductive-pulsed plasma thruster is an in-space propulsion device that generates thrust by ionizing and accelerating plasma through pulsed electromagnetic field. In this paper, the correlation between plasma structure evolution and magnetic field permeability is studied using a B-dot probe array system, combing with high-speed camera and electrical parameter measurement. Further discussions explained the mechanism how the magnetic permeation characteristics affect the energy deposition between circuit and plasma.