Ionizational Relaxation in Shock-Heated Mercury Vapors
Abstract
A uniformly heated, pressure-driven shock tube was used to produce 4200K to 12,000K mercury plasmas in which the relaxation process was studied. The total plasma luminosity was observed using a photomultiplier tube, with the time of shock passage and shock velocity established using a schlieren optical system. It is shown that the ionizational relaxation time depends inversely on the initial vapor pressure or atom number density, and directly on the final electron number density. A previously unobserved feature of ionizational relaxation has been detected. The luminosity profile shows two distinct points at which the slope of the curve changes abruptly. Impurities are seen to affect the shape of the relaxation profile greatly.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0740664
Entities
People
- James H. Dell
Organizations
- University of Michigan