Study of the ionizing gas flow in the channel of plasma accelerator with different ways of gas inflow at the inlet

Abstract Numerical studies of the ionization process are presented for various ways of the gas supplying at the inlet of the coaxial channel of the quasi-stationary plasma accelerator. Simulation of two-dimensional axisymmetric flows of ionizing gas was carried out on the basis of the equations of radiation magnetic gas dynamics taking into account radiation transport. The approximation of local thermodynamic equilibrium in three-component medium consisting of atoms, ions, and electrons was used in the MHD model. It was determined that non-uniform gas inflow at the channel inlet leads to even greater instability of the pulsating unsteady flows of the ionizing gas in the plasma accelerator. The method of long characteristics was used in the 3D model of radiation transport, including the basic mechanisms of emission and absorption for different portions of the spectrum. The radiation field in the ionizing gas flow was determined, including the integral radiation characteristics and the spectral radiation intensities in the narrow ranges of frequencies or photon energies.