Experimental Research of Dynamics and Macrostructure of Light Erosion Radiative Plasmodynamic Discharges

The investigations of dynamics and macrostructure (spatial and temporal distributions of charged particles) of optic-plasmadynamic discharges with light erosion mechanism of plasma formation and generation of accelerated gas–plasma flows of various chemical composition in the wide range of dynamic and energy and power characteristics are presented. The plasma was heated as a result of the thermalization due to shock interaction of high kinetic energy plasma flows with a gas medium, which works as a stopping barrier for such discharges. It was shown that the deceleration of the radially inhomogeneous flow at a deformable gas barrier has an essentially two-dimensional nature: a complex system of conical shock wave forms in a hypersonic plasma flow. (paper)