Mixing visualization in an electrothermal gun

Summary form only given. High-speed photographic techniques have been used to observe the interaction of an arc-driven high-energy plasma with a water working fluid. The tests are conducted in a high-pressure vessel with an instrumented polyethylene-lined plasma cartridge that injects into a Lexan walled mixing chamber 1.9 cm in diameter that is filled with water. The mixing chamber pressure and time-dependent velocity of a projectile driven by the plasma-water interaction are measured simultaneously with the electrical characteristics of the plasma discharge. Tests in which mechanical confinement of the mixing system and power dissipation levels are varied have been performed. Tests in which a water-based gel is used as working fluid and a test in which the output of the plasma cartridge is distributed through the mixing chamber region have also been performed.