Intense shock waves and shock-compressed gas flows in the channels of rail accelerators

Shock wave generation and shock-compressed gas flows attendant on the acceleration of an striker-free plasma piston in the channels of electromagnetic rail accelerators (railguns) are studied. Experiments are carried out in channels filled with helium or argon to an initial pressure of 25–500 Torr. At a pressure of 25 Torr, Mach numbers equal 32 in argon and 16 in helium. It is found that with the initial currents and gas initial densities in the channels being the same, the shock wave velocities in both gases almost coincide. Unlike standard shock tubes, a high electric field (up to 300 V/cm) present in the channel governs the motion of a shock-compressed layer. Once the charged particle concentration behind the shock wave becomes sufficiently high, the field causes part of the discharge current to pass through the shock-compressed layer. As a result, the glow of the layer becomes much more intense.