近地轨道环境氧化效应使电动力系绳表面产生氧化层，影响其电子收集能力和系统性能效率。本文针对电动力系绳轨道维持过程，研究氧化效应对电动力系绳性能的影响机理。为模拟不同强度氧化效应，利用脉冲激光沉积技术制备了具有不同厚度氧化层的铝基薄膜样品。通过模拟等离子体环境下的伏安特性实验，辨识并提取了表征氧化层电学特性的关键修正参数，建立了可定量描述氧化效应影响的系绳电流分布修正模型。基于该模型进行参数化数值仿真，从平均电流和系统性能效率角度分析了氧化效应影响下电动力系绳的性能变化。结果表明，氧化层不仅导致电子收集的起始阈值电压升高，还使有效电流幅值衰减。另外，氧化效应使系统性能的变化呈现非线性特征。通过优化系绳裸露段与绝缘段的长度比例，可有效缓解氧化效应对电动力系绳性能的负面影响。
Oxidative effects in low Earth orbit (LEO) environment can result in oxide layers on the surface of electrodynamic tethers (EDTs), thereby degrading their electron collection capability and performance efficiency. Focusing on the orbit maintenance process of EDT systems, this study investigates the influencing mechanisms of the oxidative effects on the performance of the EDT. Considering oxidative effects with different strength, Aluminum-based thin-film samples with oxide layers of different thicknesses were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition technology. Current–voltage characteristics were measured under simulated plasma conditions to identify and extract key correction parameters that characterize the electrical properties of the oxide layer. Based on these parameters, a modified current distribution model was established to quantitatively describe the impact of oxidation on the EDT. Parametric numerical simulations were then performed using the proposed model to analyze performance variations of the electrodynamic tether in terms of average current and performance efficiency under different oxidation conditions. The results indicate that the presence of an oxide layer not only increases the threshold voltage for the onset of electron collection, but also leads to attenuation of the effective current magnitude. Moreover, oxidation induces a nonlinear variation in the performance efficiency. It is further demonstrated that optimizing the length ratio between the bare and insulated segments of the EDT can effectively mitigate the negative effects of oxidation on the electrodynamic tether performance.
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