Abstract
We report experimental results on the parameters, structure, and evolution of high-Mach-number (M) argon plasma jets formed and launched by a pulsed-power-driven railgun. The nominal initial average jet parameters in the data set analyzed are density \approx 2 x 10^(16) cm^(-3), electron temperature \approx 1.4 eV, velocity \approx 30 km/s, M \approx 14, ionization fraction \approx 0.96, diameter \approx 5 cm, and length \approx 20 cm. These values approach the range needed by the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX), which is designed to use merging plasma jets to form imploding spherical plasma liners that can reach peak pressures of 0.1-1 Mbar at stagnation. As these jets propagate a distance of approximately 40 cm, the average density drops by one order of magnitude, which is at the very low end of the 8-160 times drop predicted by ideal hydrodynamic theory of a constant-M jet.
Connections
Explore this paper’s authors, topics and related work.
Building this map preview
BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.
Reviews 0
Write a review
No reviews yet.
Discussion 0
Add a comment
No comments yet.