The Degree of Air Ionization in а Plasma of а Non-Stationary Pulsating Discharge in Subsonic and Supersonic Flows

Abstract

The ionization degree of the plasma in a nonstationary pulsating discharge created by a stationary power source in subsonic and supersonic airflows has been determined. lt was experimentally found that the electron density in the plasma near electrodes varies from 10¹⁵ to 3.7 × 10¹⁶ cm^–3 and the gas temperature increases from 400 to 1250 K when the flow velocity varies from 150 to 520 m/s at a constant discharge current of 15.5 A. It is shown that the gas ionization degree in the pulsating discharge plasma is on the order of l0^–4 at low subsonic airflow velocities, while with the increase in the flow rate it increases sharply and reaches the value of 10^–2 at the velocity of 500 m/s.