A LINEAR ELECTRIC MOTOR TO STUDY TURBULENT HYDRODYNAMICS

A linear electric motor has been built to study hydrodynamic instabili ties at the interface between fluids subjected to acceleration. The fa cility is powered by 16 independent capacitor banks to provide arbitra ry acceleration profiles up to 1000 times earth's gravity. Electrical measurements include the current, magnetic field, acceleration, and pr ojectile trajectory. The instability is observed with flash shadowgrap hy. The shot turnaround time is <15 min and over 100 shots can be take n before replacing the armature and rails. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.