Comparing the equivalent particle number density distribution of gas and plasma flow fields

Abstract

In this paper, the equivalent particle number density distribution of gas and plasma flow fields is investigated. For the purpose of facilitating comparison, argon gas and argon arc plasma are chosen as practical examples for experiment. The equivalent particle number density distributions of the argon gas and argon arc plasma are reconstructed from the experimentally measured refractive index distributions obtained by moiré tomography, while five cross sections, which are 7, 8.5, 10, 11.5, and 13 mm away from the jet nozzle are chosen for practical calculation and comparison. In experiment, the probe wavelength and the export pressure of argon gas and argon arc plasma are the same. The experimental results manifest that (1) the equivalent particle number density decreases with the distance away from the jet nozzle of the gas flow field, while (2) the equivalent particle number density of the plasma flow field has a different variation. Finally, the experimental results are theoretically explained and analyzed.