A Numerical Investigation of a Shock-tube-driven Conductivity Channel

A code using the MacCormack scheme modified t o be TVD has been written t o analyze the flow in a magnetohydrodynamic conductivity channel driven by a reflected shock tube with a heated driver. Items considered include the thermodynamic and electrical properties of the potassium-seeded plasma, both with and without a current applied along the flow, and the steady-state test t ime in the channel. An inviscid, quasi-one-dimensional model was used with an electric power flux term included in the energy equation to account for the energy addition of the applied current. I t was determined that , as a consequence of the high temperature ratios across the primary diaphragm in the shock tube, no steady-state window exists in the channel. Conductivity channel investigations revealed that Joule heating effects begin at a channel current of two Amperes and become significant above a current of ten Amperes.