Discharge Parameters of Magnetoplasma Compressor: Effect of External Axial Magnetic Field

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of our recent experiments on the evaluation of the external axial magnetic field effect on the discharge parameters of a magnetoplasma compressor (MPC). The discharge-voltage characteristics were obtained for varied magnitudes of an external axial magnetic field produced by a solenoid installed on the accelerating channel. Present experiments were carried out with helium (at the initial pressures of 2 and 10 Torr) and argon (at the initial pressure of 1 Torr) as working gases at different initial voltages. The external magnetic field varied up to 0.4 T. The discharge-voltage characteristics can be altered by the magnitude of the external magnetic field, as well as by the geometrical properties of an accelerating channel.