Erosion can influence cathode life, and is thus considered to be one of the main factors limiting the application of applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters. In this paper, erosion sites on graphite cathodes are studied so as to identify the influence of applied magnetic field and the ratio of propellant mass flow rate supplied from cathode and anode. The experiment results show that the application of applied magnetic field can significantly reduce the erosion rate of the cathode compared to that without magnetic field. The erosion sites on the cathode vary with the relative position of the convergent-divergent magnetic field, and are mainly distributed in the divergent part of the field. The erosion sites on the cathodes are found to be related to the propellant supply. The decreasing anode mass flow rate enlarges the range of erosion. These results are much helpful for the analysis of cathode erosion site location since they provide evidences of erosion mechanisms and po...

中文翻译：

---

磁场等离子动力推进器中阴极腐蚀部位的分布

侵蚀会影响阴极寿命，因此被认为是限制外加磁等离子体动力推进器应用的主要因素之一。在本文中，研究了石墨阴极上的腐蚀部位，以便确定施加的磁场的影响以及从阴极和阳极提供的推进剂质量流量的比率。实验结果表明，与没有磁场的情况相比，施加磁场可以显着降低阴极的腐蚀速率。阴极上的腐蚀部位随会聚-发散磁场的相对位置而变化，并且主要分布在磁场的发散部分。发现阴极上的腐蚀部位与推进剂供应有关。降低的阳极质量流量会扩大腐蚀范围。