Gain of CO2 gasdynamic lasers
CW carbon dioxide gasdynamic laser gain for mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium
Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Gowen, F. E..
CW carbon dioxide gasdynamic laser gain for mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium
Combined radiative-convective heating test facility for atmospheric entry simulation
This paper presents experimental and theoretical studies of the small signal gain and the radiant power for one configuration of CO2 gasdynamic lasers to define the optimum-gas temperature, pressure and gas compositions for the gain and the laser power. The laser was operated with two gas mixtures (CO2-N2-He and CO2-N2-H2O) at temperatures of 800-2200 deg K, pressures of 2-16 atm, and a wide range of gas compositions. For this laser optimum gas temperatures were roughly 1500-1600 deg K for gain and more than 2200 deg K for power. It was found that the gasdynamic laser would not oscillate for He or H2O concentrations of less than 10% and 1%, respectively. The various kinetic processes for establishing gain and the various laser cavity parameters that determine laser power were examined. The theories were assessed for their ability to predict gain and power. In most cases, the gain theory gave excellent quantitative results whereas the power theory gave only qualitative results. Laser power of nearly 2 kw was obtained.
Heating facility for testing ablative heat shield material models in combined convective and radiative heating environment with constant or transient heating conditions
A wind tunnel using arc heated air
Hypersonic wind tunnel using arc-heated air for mach numbers from 10 to 20
It has been shown that the circumferential pressure distributions for the inclined body and circular cylinder deviate from their respective theoretical inviscid distributions on the lee or downstream side in the same manner. With the aid of visual flow techniques, it has been shown that there is a shedding of vortices within the crossflow field of the inclined body. It has also been found that the vortex configuration depoends to a large extent on the shape of the nose of the body. To illustrate this, vapor screen pictures were made and results are discussed.