Flow Visualization in a Rotating-Arc Plasma Jet

Knowledge of the gas flow pattern in a plasma jet exhaust is important in relation to heat transfer and gas temperature estimation. The extreme conditions within the jet, however, have hitherto encouraged the use of water cooled probes for flow measurements to the exclusion of quicker and more convenient optical methods.

An optical system has been developed to indicate gas velocities throughout the volume of a transparent water jacket enclosing the exhaust gas by means of particle track photography. The difficulties caused by the size of the test space and the high gas luminosity are overcome by using a bi-focal lens system to utilize a photographic flash bulb source efficiently.