Abstract

The plasma-arc generator (see figure 1, 2) has been used for several years as an invaluable ground test facility in which the gas stagnation properties of hypervelocity flight may be reproduced. The plasma is produced by shorting an electric arc between two electrodes; then directing a gas stream through the arc. The gas stream is thus heated to a ''temperature " of forty to fifty thousand degrees Farenheit. At this temperature the gas is in a state of partial ionization termed "plasma". The plasma stream is then constricted and directed by a nozzle into a test chamber and over the surface of a model.

Degree

College and Department

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Mechanical Engineering

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