Interactions between an E-beam sustained discharge and supersonic flow

The paper analyzes the interactions between an E-beam sustained discharge and supersonic flow. A large difference is shown in the performance limits between the cases of the effect of the flow on the transition from glow to arc, and static discharges which are compared to the transition of a discharge in flow. The resulting thermal layer near the cathode was examined in the static discharges; the measured thickness of the layer cannot be accounted for by gas kinetic values of the diffusivity. A model was suggested that correlates with these measurements, and the important role of the boundary layer in determining glow to arc transition of the discharge is emphasized experimentally.