Development of Turbulence by the Interaction of Gas Flow with Plasmas

Abstract

A high current electric arc in the axis of a supersonic nozzle flow is studied experimentally and theoretically in order to clarify the physical nature of light emission fluctuations which are observed inside the nozzle. The gas flow is produced by discharging a high pressure reservoir of 20 at N2 through a nozzle of 12 mm throat diameter. The arc is fed with a rectangular current pulse of 1.9 kA amplitude and 5 ms duration. The light emission fluctuations of the arc are observed by photographic and photoelectric methods. The results of the observations are compared to theoretical estimates and lead to the conclusion that the fluctuations are caused by hydrodynamic turbulence. This turbulence is shown to be generated by the combined occurrence of a strong axial pressure gradient and a strong radial density gradient in the boundary layer between the arc and the surrounding cold gas flow. The influence of specific plasma properties on the character of the turbulence is briefly discussed from a theoretical point of view.