Velocity Distributions in a Gas-Gun Microparticle Accelerator

ABATE, ANABELLA A.; PIQUERAS, CRISTIAN M.; GÓMEZ, LEOPOLDO R.; LANCE, PEDRO; GARCÍA, NICOLÁS A.; SATTI, ANGEL; BARRIOS, SIRIA; PRIETO, GERMAN; VEGA, DANIEL A.

REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

AMER INST PHYSICS

Lugar: New York; Año: 2022 vol. 93

0034-6748

Here we build and characterize a single-stage gas-gun microparticle accelerator, where a pressurized gas expands and launches particles on a target. The microparticles in the range of 60 - 250 µm are accelerated by the expansion of pressurized nitrogen. By using a high-speed camera, we study how the velocity distribution of accelerated particles is modified by particle size, pressure in the gas reservoir, valve?s opening time, and diaphragm?s thickness and composition. We employ this microparticle accelerator to study the impact of glass particles with diameters of (69 ± 6) micromaccelerated at moderate velocities ∼ (10 - 25) m/s, using films of poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as targets.