Message by Emanuele Ruà:
Hello to every one,
I’m trying to simulate the plume of a thruster.When I used the SPT-100 implemented model in the sample provided everything worked fine. As soon as I modified the emitted current in the SPT-100 template the cathode recollected current increase to 3000 A ( as well as the cathode current) remaining close to that value for the whole duration of the simulation but the total emitted current remain close to the thruster emitted current. Also, the voltage of the cathode remains fixed to 0 V.
I get a similar issue if I try to use the SPT-100 model in another simple simulation with just the thruster in an empty volume. In this case, the recollected current remains 0 but the total emitted current raise to a value that is almost tenfold the current emitted by the thruster and even in this case the cathode potential remains 0V. Also, if I use absorbing BCs the currents and even the number of macroparticles drop to zero as soon as the first particles reach the boundaries. Seems like the thruster does not emit more particle in that case.
Does anyone know what could be the problems?
Thanks,
Emanuele