Advancing the Efficiency of Rotating Magnetic Field Thrusters through Surrogate Model Optimization

The rotating magnetic field (RMF) thruster is an emerging inductive pulsed plasma thruster (IPPT) concept. In general, IPPT thrusters possess a significant advantage over conventional electric propulsion architectures through their propellant agnosticism due to their inductive drive [1]. RMF thrusters offer a distinct advantage over other IPPTs in that they indirectly couple the driven plasma currents from the inductive antennas, reducing stress on the driving circuit and enabling lower voltages and steady-state operation. However, the low efficiencies of RMF thrusters remain a key challenge [2-6]. Due to the numerous parameters for these devices (such as RMF frequency, RMF magnitude, pulse length, duty cycle, flow rate, flow injection location, magnetic field shape, ...), manually optimizing them is impractical in experimental settings. Therefore, this study presents the results of utilizing surrogate model optimization in conjunction with experimental performance measurements of an RMF thruster to intelligently select test points. The primary goals are to enhance the efficiency of these devices and uncover trends in the underlying physics. The implications of these findings are discussed within the context of future RMF thruster operation and design.

[1] Polzin, K., et al., Aerospace, Vol. 7, 2020, p. 105

[2] Gill, T. M., et al., PSST, 2023. Submitted

[3] Sercel, C. L., et al. AIAA P&E, 2021

[4] Weber, T. E. Thesis, 2010

[5] Furukawa, T., et al., AIAA P&E, 2020

[6] Sun, Y., et al. PSST, Vol. 30, 2021