An electromagnetic railgun accelerator: a generator of strong shock waves in channels

Processes that accompany the generation of strong shock waves during the acceleration of a free plasma piston (PP) in the electromagnetic railgun channel have been experimentally studied. The formation of shock waves in the railgun channel and the motion of a shock-wave-compressed layer proceed (in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Technical physics letters 2014-11, Vol.40 (11), p.1003-1006
Main Authors: Bobashev, S. V., Zhukov, B. G., Kurakin, R. O., Ponyaev, S. A., Reznikov, B. I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Classical and Continuum Physics
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
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Summary:Processes that accompany the generation of strong shock waves during the acceleration of a free plasma piston (PP) in the electromagnetic railgun channel have been experimentally studied. The formation of shock waves in the railgun channel and the motion of a shock-wave-compressed layer proceed (in contrast to the case of a classical shock tube) in a rather strong electric field (up to 300 V/cm). The experiments were performed at the initial gas pressures in the channel ranging from 25 to 500 Torr. At 25 Torr, the shock-wave Mach numbers reached 32 in argon and 16 in helium. At high concentrations of charged particles behind the shock wave, the electric field causes the passage of a part of the discharge current through the volume of the shock-wave-compressed layer, which induces intense glow comparable with that of the PP glow.
ISSN:1063-7850
1090-6533
DOI:10.1134/S1063785014110200