Axil says:
Also, a confining coil that constraints the shockwave to the center of the cylinder increases the speed of the shockwave by 20%. It would be interesting to vary the intensity of this axially confining force to see how the acceleration of the shockwave and the associated power delivered to the surface of the piston by the plasmoid varies with confining coil field strength. Here again, the accelerometer is an important tool that can provide important insights into this dynamic process. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I also would like to see the effect of the confining coil upon device operation. It seems likely to me that the coil axial field will make the plasma ions rotate as they approach the outer wall of the cylinder. The electric field will tend to accelerate the ions and electrons and the magnetic field should make them rotate. If the piston force is due to induced currents, an axial magnetic field will enhance the effect. Without the axial field the current induced within the metallic piston will tend to balance out due to symmetry. I suspect that the magnetic field will need to be fairly strong if a large reaction force is to be generated. This should be true since the ion and electron currents will tend to overwhelm the magnetic field due to the coil current. Dave
