Electrical discharge in a supersonic stream of a weakly ionized molecular gas

An experimental investigation was made of electrical discharges in supersonic unsteady streams of molecular gases generated by exploding acetylene-oxigen-nitrogen mixtures. High-speed photography was used in an investigation of the discharge configuration in the case of flow around cylindrical electrodes placed along a wedge-shaped nozzle. No contraction of the discharge was observed when the power input was up to 0.5 kW/cm³.