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Cornell University

PUFFIN

Studying Fundamental Plasma Phenomena Using Pulsed Power

Oblique shock experiments on COBRA

Metal disc with wires and green light
The load hardware, lit up by the probing laser, with the exploding wire array in the center, and the crocodile target on the right.

We’re back from two weeks of experiments on the COBRA pulsed-power generator at Cornell University. Graduate student Rishabh Datta wrote a proposal which was funded through ZNetUS to study oblique shocks in pulsed-power-driven plasma flows. These shocks form at specific angles with respect to the surface of an angled obstacle, and the shock angle is a function of Mach number and the adiabatic index of the plasma. Along with undergraduate student Emily Neill and graduate students Simran Chowdhry and Lansing Horan IV, Rishabh gathered data with a range of obstacle configurations and diagnostics, including shadowgraphy, interferometry, and Thomson scattering.

We’re grateful to the team at COBRA – Euan Freeman, Sander Lavine, Todd Blanchard, Dan Hawkes and Harry Wilhelm – for all of their assistance with these shots, as well as to the NNSA for supporting ZNetUS.

Metal disc with wires and green light
The load hardware, lit up by the probing laser, with the exploding wire array in the center, and the crocodile target on the right.
Green light and color throughout, with dark gray straight bars
Laser shadowgrph of the shocks forming on the surface of the crocodile.
Tan metal plate with hole in the center, with threads. A metal device with thin strip of metal enters the plate hole
Post shot: the wire arrray cathode post has sheared off and the crocodile’s jaws have been bent backwards.