MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC FLOW PHYSICS OF MAGNETICALLY NOZZLED PLASMA ACCELERATORS WITH APPLICATIONS TO ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

The coaxial plasma accelerator is a simple, compact, and mechanically robust device that utilizes the Lorentz JxB force to accelerate plasma to high velocity. Originally developed in the 1950s for the purpose o f providing energetic plasmas for fusion energy experiments, coaxial p lasma accelerators are presently being investigated as an environmenta lly sound and economical means of materials processing and advanced ma nufacturing. While commercial applications of this technology are alre ady on line, future commercial applications will require improving acc elerator reproducibility and efficiency, better controlling the accele rated plasma flow velocity or energy, and better controlling the distr ibution of directed energy or power on target. In this paper, the magn etohydrodynamic flow physics of magnetically nozzled plasma accelerato rs is presented with a view to achieving the accelerator control neces sary for future industrial applications. Included is a fundamental des cription of plasma production, acceleration, and flow in a magnetic no zzle. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.