HallThruster.jl: a Julia package for 1D Hall thruster discharge simulation

Abstract

Although the Hall effect thruster is one of the most widely-used forms of in-space electric propulsion, there are aspects of these devices—particularly the electron dynamics—that remain poorly understood. This knowledge gap has precluded the development of fully predictive engineering models for Hall thruster operation. Instead, it is necessary to calibrate models against experimental data in order to achieve a high degree of agreement with data. This process is time intensive for state of the art multi-dimensional Hall thruster models and can be subject to a high degree of variability. HallThruster.jl is a one-dimensional fluid Hall thruster code which has sufficient fidelity to be partially predictive, while running quickly enough to be used as a surrogate for model calibration and discovery. It is written in Julia for its combination of speed, extensibility, and ease-of-use, and it allows users to customize many aspects of the simulation including the critical model for the electron dynamics.