Kink instability in applied-field magneto-plasma-dynamic thrusters

The evidence of the onset of gross magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in an applied magneto-plasma-dynamic (MPD) thrusters were investigated and identified as kink modes with azimuthal and axial periodicity. The kink mode becomes unstable whenever the Kruskal-Shafranov limit was violated. A positive correlation is established between the kink and performance degradation at high current. The results prove that growing in the presence of a resonant surface in the plasma, the critical regimes are related to a large MHD kink instabilities.