Dynamics of a current bridge in a coaxial plasma accelerator

The pioneering investigation of the behavior of a current bridge in a coaxial accelerator with pulsed delivery of a working gas liberated from titanium hydride by an electrical discharge is reported. A new method to trace the motion of the current bridge using LEDs is suggested. The behavior of the current bridge in accelerators with axial and radial gas injection is studied. The parameters of an accelerator generating a pure plasma jet with a high kinetic energy (such as the size and polarity of electrodes, gas flow direction, and time delay between the delivery of the gas to the accelerator and its ionization) are optimized. The applicability of an electrodynamic model to this type of accelerator is discussed. Good agreement between experimental data and calculation results is obtained.