Plasma propagation and ignition of propellant in the chamber of a SPETC gun

Author

Perelmutter, Lior ; Goldenberg, Chay ; Sudai, Moris ; Alimi, Roger ; Furman, Moran ; Kimhe, David ; Appelbaum, Gabriel ; Arie, Shlomo ; Zeevi, Zvi ; Melnik, David

Author_Institution

Propulsion Phys. Lab., Yavne, Israel

Volume

35

Issue

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

213

Lastpage

217

Abstract

The propagation of plasma and the spatial properties of the ignition process, in the chamber of a solid propellant electrothermal-chemical (SPETC) gun, are studied experimentally for discharge powers between 100 MW and 300 MW. The plasma was found to fill the entire chamber volume in approximately 1 msec. The measured axial and radial plasma propagation velocities were in the range of 1000-2000 m/s and 100-500 m/s, respectively. The ignition was found to be more intensive in the central chamber region and towards the breech. The obtained results are used for modeling the plasma injection in interior ballistic codes

Keywords

electrothermal launchers; ignition; plasma devices; plasma diagnostics; 1 ms; 100 to 300 MW; 100 to 500 m/s; 1000 to 2000 m/s; breech; central chamber region; discharge power; interior ballistic codes; plasma injection modelling; plasma propagation; propagation velocity; propellant ignition; solid propellant electrothermal-chemical gun chambers; spatial properties; Electrothermal launching; Ignition; Laboratories; Optical pulse generation; Photodiodes; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Propulsion; Pulse measurements; Solids;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.738406

Filename

738406