FORMATION OF A PLASMA ARMATURE IN THE CHANNEL OF A MAGNETOPLASMA PROJECTILE ACCELERATOR

In a hypervelocity magnetoplasma projectile accelerator, the stability of the moving current armature depends On its initial state. An exper imental investigation conducted on the formation phase of the moving c urrent armature. It was shown that, as a result of transient gas-dynam ic processes, a current bridge with stable parameters was not formed o n the end of the dielectric projectile for an initiation method typica l for a magnetoplasma projectile accelerator. When the erosion product s from the walls of the accelerator channel could be discharged, a mov ing current armature was formed in the shape of a magnetically compres sed discharge with stable parameters. The longitudinal distribution of the electric current, high-speed photographs, and current-voltage cha racteristics of the discharge are presented