Pulsed Microwave Plasma Instrumentation for Investigation of Plasma-Tuned Multiphase Combustion
Abstract
This report describes the twelve-month Iowa State University effort to develop instrumentation for microwave enhancement of energetic materials, their flames, and to characterize microwave properties of energetics. Specifically, experimental facilities are developed to enable coupling of both continuous wave (CW, ~1 kW average power) microwave energy and pulsed, microsecond-duration (~0.5 to 2 s duration, 10% duty cycle, 300 W average power) discharges of 2.45 GHz wavelength with composite solid propellants and their flames. Such instrumentation, in support of investigation of electromagnetic wave interaction with energetic materials and flames thereof is of interest due to the potential to perturb from steady state, an energetic material combustion wave through deposition of electromagnetic energy to either the propellant flame structure or to the propellant condensed phase, and the potential to develop microwave-sensitive energetic materials that may enable a number of effects within a burning energetic material such as microwave ignition, acceleration of burning rate, extinguishment, and re-ignition. The effort to fabricate and validate this instrumentation was additionally supported, simultaneously, by AFOSR # FA9550-15-1-0481, Interaction of Pulsed Microwave Plasma with Alkali Doped Propellant Combustion Flames, which describes in detail the mechanisms through which microwave radiation may be coupled to a propellant, its flame structure, and dynamic control techniques that can be enabled. Specifically, the instrumentation developed in this effort comprises 1) an atmospheric pressure TE01 fundamental mode resonant microwave cavity with optically accessible propellant combustion flow through test section, 2)investigations using the cavity with both CW and pulsed microwave (MW) sources, and 3) measurement of propellant condensed phase dielectric properties at microwave frequencies for determination of condensed phase microwave power loss.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 13, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1063622
Entities
People
- James B Michael
- Keke Zhu
- Stuart J. Barkley
- Travis R. Sippel