Analysis of Anomalous Resistivity during the Conduction Phase of the Plasma Erosion Opening Switch.

Abstract

During the conduction phase of the plasma erosion opening switch, the current channel width in the body of the plasma away from the electrodes has been observed to be many times wider than the collisionless skin depth. Anomalous collisions have been invoked to explain this discrepency. Here the problem is analyzed using an electrostatic Vlasov approach and an unstable ion acoustic mode is identified. The derived growth rate is fast enough and the nonlinear saturation level is high enough to explain the observed magnetic field penetration. Keywords: Vacuum opening switch; Acoustic instability; Anomalous resistivity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 02, 1988
Accession Number
ADA193135

Entities

People

  • J. M. Grossmann
  • Paul F. Ottinger
  • R. Kulsrud

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Waves
  • Amplitude
  • Collisions
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Crystal Lattice Vibrations
  • Differential Equations
  • Electrodes
  • Electrons
  • Energy
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Geometry
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Saturation
  • Steady State
  • Stratified Fluids
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science (Mechanical Engineering).
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics