Pulsed electromagnetic acceleration

Direct measurements of the power deposited in the anode of a multimegawatt MPD accelerator using thermocouples attached to a thin shell anode reveal a dramatic decrease in the fractional anode power from 50% at 200 KW input power to less than 10% at 20 MW power. The corresponding local power flux peak at a value of 10,000 W/sq cm at the lip of the anode exhaust orifice, a distribution traced to a corresponding peak in the local current density at the anode. A comparison of voltage-current characteristics and spectral photographs of the MPD discharge using quartz, boron nitride and plexiglas insulators with various mass injection configurations led to the identification of different voltage modes and regions of ablation free operation. The technique of piezoelectric impact pressure measurement in the MPD exhaust flow was refined to account for the effects due to probe yaw angle.