The study of helium ionization process stability in the channel of plasma accelerator

Numerical study of the ionization process stability in a flow of ionizing helium in the channel of the quasi-stationary plasma accelerator is presented. The model of two-dimensional axisymmetric flows is based on the modified MHD equations for the multicomponent medium consisting of atoms, electrons, and multiply charged ions with different ionization multiplicity. The numerical model takes into account the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. Results of modeling of the ionizing gas flows and the integral characteristics of the radiation are presented. As a result of a series of calculations, the empirical condition for the stability of ionizing helium flows was obtained in terms of the experimentally measured parameters.