Spectroscopic investigation of the RGS-II hypervelocity plasma armature

Byron D. Barrett; Roger D. Bengtson; Mary C. Baker; William C. Nunnally

Spectroscopic investigation of the RGS-II hypervelocity plasma armature

Byron D. Barrett, Roger D. Bengtson, Mary C. Baker, William C. Nunnally

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

A spectroscopic investigation of the plasma armature in the railgun simulator RGS-II is underway. RGS-II can accelerate the plasma armature to velocities up to 20 km/s and produce armature currents up to 300 kA. The optical signal is extracted at the midbore position by a fiber-optic bundle. Emission spectra are recorded by an optical multichannel analyzer system. The emission spectra are used to identify the plasma constituents. Relative intensities of neutral and ionic species are correlated with interferometric measurements of the electron density to estimate the plasma temperature, using the Saha equations. Effects of the ambient chamber pressure and total armature current on the plasma armature are being studied over a range of 200 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and from 50 to 300 kA, respectively.

Original language	English
Pages	39
Number of pages	1
State	Published - 1989
Event	IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science 1989 - Buffalo, NY, USA Duration: May 22 1989 → May 24 1989

Conference

Conference	IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science 1989
City	Buffalo, NY, USA
Period	05/22/89 → 05/24/89

Cite this

@conference{1e2e2c7a7e264bc8820ef1bbda355838,

title = "Spectroscopic investigation of the RGS-II hypervelocity plasma armature",

abstract = "A spectroscopic investigation of the plasma armature in the railgun simulator RGS-II is underway. RGS-II can accelerate the plasma armature to velocities up to 20 km/s and produce armature currents up to 300 kA. The optical signal is extracted at the midbore position by a fiber-optic bundle. Emission spectra are recorded by an optical multichannel analyzer system. The emission spectra are used to identify the plasma constituents. Relative intensities of neutral and ionic species are correlated with interferometric measurements of the electron density to estimate the plasma temperature, using the Saha equations. Effects of the ambient chamber pressure and total armature current on the plasma armature are being studied over a range of 200 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and from 50 to 300 kA, respectively.",

author = "Barrett, {Byron D.} and Bengtson, {Roger D.} and Baker, {Mary C.} and Nunnally, {William C.}",

year = "1989",

language = "English",

pages = "39",

note = "IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science 1989 ; Conference date: 22-05-1989 Through 24-05-1989",

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TY - CONF

T1 - Spectroscopic investigation of the RGS-II hypervelocity plasma armature

AU - Barrett, Byron D.

AU - Bengtson, Roger D.

AU - Baker, Mary C.

AU - Nunnally, William C.

PY - 1989

Y1 - 1989

N2 - A spectroscopic investigation of the plasma armature in the railgun simulator RGS-II is underway. RGS-II can accelerate the plasma armature to velocities up to 20 km/s and produce armature currents up to 300 kA. The optical signal is extracted at the midbore position by a fiber-optic bundle. Emission spectra are recorded by an optical multichannel analyzer system. The emission spectra are used to identify the plasma constituents. Relative intensities of neutral and ionic species are correlated with interferometric measurements of the electron density to estimate the plasma temperature, using the Saha equations. Effects of the ambient chamber pressure and total armature current on the plasma armature are being studied over a range of 200 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and from 50 to 300 kA, respectively.

AB - A spectroscopic investigation of the plasma armature in the railgun simulator RGS-II is underway. RGS-II can accelerate the plasma armature to velocities up to 20 km/s and produce armature currents up to 300 kA. The optical signal is extracted at the midbore position by a fiber-optic bundle. Emission spectra are recorded by an optical multichannel analyzer system. The emission spectra are used to identify the plasma constituents. Relative intensities of neutral and ionic species are correlated with interferometric measurements of the electron density to estimate the plasma temperature, using the Saha equations. Effects of the ambient chamber pressure and total armature current on the plasma armature are being studied over a range of 200 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and from 50 to 300 kA, respectively.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0024917980&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Paper

AN - SCOPUS:0024917980

SP - 39

T2 - IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science 1989

Y2 - 22 May 1989 through 24 May 1989

ER -

Spectroscopic investigation of the RGS-II hypervelocity plasma armature

Abstract

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