The electromagnetic properties of plasma produced by hypervelocity impact

Abstract

The change of electron density in moving plasma in this paper is empirically determined according to multiple ground-based experimental results and the assumption of the Maxwell distribution. Moreover, the equation of the magnetic field intensity, dominated by the current due to the collective electron movement during the expansion, is presented on the basis of the Biot-Savart law, and its relationship with time and space is subsequently depicted. In addition, hypervelocity impact experiments on a 2AL12 target have been carried out using a two-stage light gas gun to accelerate a 2AL12 projectile of 6.4 mm to 6.2 km/s. Spiral coils are designed to measure the intensity of the electromagnetic field induced by this impact. The experimental results show that the magnetic field strength is an alternate pulse maintaining nearly 1 ms and its maximum is close to 15 μT, which is strong enough to interfere with the communication circuit and chip in spacecrafts. Lastly, numerical simulation of the magnetic field intensity using this experimental parameter reveals that the intensity in our estimation from our theory tends to be well consistent with the experimental data in the first peak of the pulse signal.