Jean Luis Suazo Betancourt
(Advisors: Drs. Mitchell Walker and Adam Steinberg]

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

An Experimental Investigation of The Potential Structure in the Front Pole Region of a Magnetically Shielded Hall Effect Thruster

On

Friday, December 16 at 08:00 a.m.
Montgomery Knight Building 317

Abstract
Predictive engineering models that leverage equations derived from physical laws, like, for example, Navier-Stokes, require physics-justified closures whose validity and calibration require experimental data. A common closure in Hall effect thruster predictive engineering models is the so-called isopotentialization and isothermalization of magnetic field lines. This model and general phenomen is also the corner-stone of design in magnetically shielded Hall effect thrusters, whose lifetime is limited by erosion of the front facing pole region. This talk presents a set of thesis research questions and an experiment to address the role electrons play in standing up the electrostatic potential in the near field plume of magnetically shielded Hall effect thrusters and the implications this may have for high power magnetically shielded Hall effect thruster pole erosion and operation.

Committee

• Dr. Mitchell Walker        –            School of Aerospace Engineering (Advisor)
• Dr. Adam Steinberg        –            School of Aerospace Engineering (Advisor)
• Dr. Wenting Sun              –            School of Aerospace Engineering
• Dr. Lukas Graber             –            School of Electrical and Computer Engineering