抄録
Although investigations of propellant distribution within the ion thruster are necessary to improve its performance, it is difficult to measure the distribution because the propellant is neutral: a non-charged particle. For this study, a low-pressure measurement system with a differential pressure gauge was developed for the evaluation. Through the experiments, it has been confirmed that the measurement error was less than 10% in the pressure range of 0.01 Pa to 1 Pa, and that the neutral particles are distributed almost uniformly within the discharge chamber in the annular propellant-supply case. The pressure measurement system might be useful for the evaluation of the neutral density distribution not only in an ion thruster, but also in other electric propulsion systems.
