Gasdynamic Effects on an Electric Discharge in Air.

Abstract

The overall purpose of this work is to develop a subsonic, turbulent, diffuse electric discharge operating at near atmospheric pressure for use as the pumping mechanism in an Electric Discharge Convection Laser (EDCL). The work was done in two phases. The first consisted of a data collection phase during which the variation of discharge parameters was studied to determine their effects on the current-voltage characteristics of the multi-pin electrode arrangements used. The parameters studied included gap length, flow speed, turbulence intensity, electrode orientation, rate of voltage increase, and gas density through the addition of a diffuser. The second phase consisted of developing an interactive model which correctly reflects the dependences observed in phase one. A space-charge model resulted which correctly explains most major observed trends in gross discharge properties. Discharge stability is also discussed in terms of the model. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1976
Accession Number
ADA032301

Entities

People

  • Jonney Lynn Barto

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Barometric Pressure
  • Boundary Layer
  • Charged Particles
  • Convection
  • Diffusers
  • Electric Discharges
  • Electric Fields
  • Electrical Properties
  • Electrodes
  • Electrons
  • Flow Fields
  • Free Electrons
  • Intensity
  • Measurement
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Space Charge
  • United States Naval Academy

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster