Electroerosive production of coating material in a coaxial magnetoplasma accelerator

Experimental research of accelerating channel electric erosion of a hybrid coaxial magnetoplasma accelerator was carried out. The general rules of erosion distribution along the barrel were determined. It was calculated that the optimum barrel length is equal to the length of an external induction system solenoid, and up to 90% of eroded material mass located there is carried away by a hypervelocity stream. It is shown that the most important factor determining erosion is specific supplied energy per volume unit of accelerating channel. Integral specific erosion m_c/W is directly proportional to the energy dissipated in the unit of barrel volume.