A self-consistent computational model of electrodynamic and thermogasdynamic processes in electric-discharge lasers

The paper deals with a self-consistent computational electrodynamic and thermogasdynamic model of the working chamber of a gas-discharge laser with a segmented cathode. The computational model is based on a set of Navier-Stokes equations, with the effective turbulent viscosity described within the $k$–$\varepsilon$ model of turbulence, energy equation for partly ionized gas, equations of motion of charged particles (electrons and ions) in a diffusion-drift approximation, and continuity equation for electric current. The model is used to investigate the processes in the gas-discharge chamber of a laser with a segmented cathode and continuous anode. The calculations are performed for the real parameters of technological $\mathrm{CO}_2$ lasers.