Formation of an imploding plasma liner for the plasma liner experiment (PLX) requires individual plasma jets to merge into a quasi-spherical shell of plasma converging on the origin. Understanding dynamics of the merging process requires knowledge of the plasma phenomena involved. We present results from the study of the merging of three plasma jets in three dimensional geometry. The experiments were performed using HyperV Technologies Corp. 1 cm Minirailguns with a preionized argon plasma armature. The vacuum chamber partially reproduces the port geometry of the PLX chamber. Diagnostics include fast imaging, spectroscopy, interferometry, fast pressure probes, B-dot probes, and high speed spatially resolved photodiodes, permitting measurements of plasma density, temperature, velocity, stagnation pressure, magnetic field, and density gradients. These experimental results are compared with simulation results from the LSP 3D hybrid PIC code.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 2013
Research Article|
January 15 2013
Merging of high speed argon plasma jets
A. Case;
A. Case
1
HyperV Technologies Corp.
, Chantilly, Virginia 22180, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
S. Messer;
S. Messer
1
HyperV Technologies Corp.
, Chantilly, Virginia 22180, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
S. Brockington;
S. Brockington
1
HyperV Technologies Corp.
, Chantilly, Virginia 22180, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
L. Wu;
L. Wu
1
HyperV Technologies Corp.
, Chantilly, Virginia 22180, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
F. D. Witherspoon;
F. D. Witherspoon
1
HyperV Technologies Corp.
, Chantilly, Virginia 22180, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
R. Elton
R. Elton
2
University of Maryland
, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Phys. Plasmas 20, 012704 (2013)
Article history
Received:
October 26 2012
Accepted:
December 28 2012
Citation
A. Case, S. Messer, S. Brockington, L. Wu, F. D. Witherspoon, R. Elton; Merging of high speed argon plasma jets. Phys. Plasmas 1 January 2013; 20 (1): 012704. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4775778
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionPay-Per-View Access
$40.00