Thermal mechanical analyses of large diameter ion accelerator systemsThermal mechanical analyses of large diameter ion accelerator systems are performed using commercially available finite element software executed on a desktop computer. Finite element models of a 30-cm-diameter accelerator system formulated using plate/shell elements give calculated results which agree well with similar published obtained on a mainframe computer. Analyses of a 50-cm-diameter, three-grid accelerator system using measured grid temperatures (corresponding to discharge powers of 653 and 886 watts) indicate that thermally induced grid movements need not be the performance limiting phenomena for accelerator systems of this size.
Document ID
19890059670
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Brophy, John R. (Electric Propulsion Lab., Inc. Lancaster, CA, United States)
Aston, Graeme (Electric Propulsion Laboratory, Inc. Lancaster, CA, United States)