DENSITY PROFILE MEASUREMENTS.
Abstract
Plasma densities were measured in the exhaust stream of a repetitively fired coaxial plasma gun. Species in the exhaust were identified and their density and velocity profiles were obtained. The experimental results were compared with those anticipated on the basis of existing theoretical models. The results also were found to be in substantial agreement with conclusions reached from other measurements such as thrust, mass flow, and total energy in the exhaust stream. The measuring techniques that were involved were as follows: For the xenon neutral atoms, vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy; for the xenon ions (and also impurity ions), a Langmuir probe biased to collect ions; and for particle identification of luminous species in the exhaust, emission spectroscopy in the VUV region. The number density of the xenon ions turned out to be marginally low for optical detection and, furthermore, the background light source produced ion lines of sufficiently low intensity so that pulse-sampling would have been required to obtain the desired results. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0660588
Entities
People
- P. Gloersen
Organizations
- General Electric