Mathematical Modeling of Output Plasma Flow in Stationary Plasma Thruster

The paper considers a mathematical model that allows calculating the output parameters of plasma in a stationary plasma thruster (SPT), bypassing the calculation of the main plasma processes in the SPT. It turns out that under certain conditions (setting the output parameters along the SPT axis and plasma incompressibility), this is possible. The determining factors underlying the proposed approach are the two-fluid nature of plasma, including full consideration of the electron inertia, and dissipative processes: magnetic and hydrodynamic viscosities of electrons and ions, thermal conductivity of plasma and temperature relaxation. Mathematically, the calculation of the output diagrams is reduced to solving a boundary value problem for a certain linear system of 8th-order ODEs with variable coefficients on a segment. The paper proposes a method of successive approximations for numerically solving the resulting boundary value problem. The calculation results are presented demonstrating the operability of the mathematical model.