Regular paper
26 Sep 2016
Regular paper | 26 Sep 2016
Thrust calculation of electric solar wind sail by particle-in-cell simulation
Kento Hoshi1, Hirotsugu Kojima2, Takanobu Muranaka3, and Hiroshi Yamakawa2
Kento Hoshi et al.
Kento Hoshi1, Hirotsugu Kojima2, Takanobu Muranaka3, and Hiroshi Yamakawa2
- 1Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- 2Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- 3Department of Electrical Engineering, Chukyo University, Nagoya, Japan
- 1Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- 2Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- 3Department of Electrical Engineering, Chukyo University, Nagoya, Japan
Correspondence: Kento Hoshi (kento_hoshi@rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
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Received: 01 Jul 2016 – Revised: 25 Aug 2016 – Accepted: 07 Sep 2016 – Published: 26 Sep 2016
Abstract. In this study, thrust characteristics of an electric solar wind sail were numerically evaluated using full three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The thrust obtained from the PIC simulation was lower than the thrust estimations obtained in previous studies. The PIC simulation indicated that ambient electrons strongly shield the electrostatic potential of the tether of the sail, and the strong shield effect causes a greater thrust reduction than has been obtained in previous studies. Additionally, previous expressions of the thrust estimation were modified by using the shielded potential structure derived from the present simulation results. The modified thrust estimation agreed very well with the thrust obtained from the PIC simulation.
