Experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Dynamik elektromagnetisch angetriebener konvergenter Zylinderstoßwellen

Abstract

In the convergent cylindrical shock wave of a Z-pinch discharge (diameter/length ratio : 44 cm per 10 cm), magnetic probe measurements have been made of the current density and the velocity of the current sheet. For discharges in Helium, Argon and Krypton at mass densities from 2.2·10-7 to 5.5·10-6 g/cm3 one finds: 1. Only a small portion of the total current contracts with the shock wave. The direction of this current is maintained even when the total current reverses. 2. The gas pressure behind the shock front is a constant for each gas independent of the filling pressure. 3. At small radii the contraction is determined by the inertia of the moving plasma only. 4. With higher filling pressures a considerable part of the small contracting current flows ahead of the shock front.