Electro-Thermal Igniter (ETI) Particle Deposition Upon a Simulated Propellant Surface

Abstract

An experimental investigation was performed to gain insights into the flows resulting from a plasma jet impinging on a flat plate at representative incident angles of 90, 60, and 45 degrees in the open air for two plasma pulse lengths (~0.3 and 1.0 ms) and two plasma energies (0.7 and 1.3 kJ). Specifically, the investigation characterized the influence of the pulse length, pulse energy, and angle on particle deposition on a flat simulated propellant surface in an attempt to clarify the effect of plasma-propellant interactions occurring during the electro-thermal ignition of a propellant charge system. Comparisons of data from the flow signature on impingement plates showed that although a plasma jet with a short pulse length may be more powerful, the shorter time duration of flow reduced the number of particles that were deposited. Therefore, the pulse length may be a key parameter needed to be optimized in order to effectively ignite a propellant charge system with a minimum demand of electrical energy. Differences in deposition at variable incident angles of jet impingement were also evident.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2008
Accession Number
AD1090552

Entities

People

  • Stephen L. Howard

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Angle Of Incidence
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Electric Power
  • Energy
  • Geometry
  • Hot Gases
  • Igniters
  • Ignition
  • Ignition Systems
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Metals
  • Military Research
  • Particles
  • Plasma Jets
  • Propellants
  • Resins

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Rocket Propulsion.