Ion drag forces and magnetomechanical effect

Ion flows (ion drag forces) acting on macroscopic-size particles play a significant role in a plasma containing macroparticles. It is shown that ion drag forces can explain the magnetomechanical effect. The formula is derived for determining the dependence of the moment of the magnetomechanical effect on the type and pressure of the gas, tube radius, current, and magnetic field. This formula is in satisfactory agreement with experimental data for discharges in argon and neon with a relatively low magnetization of electron motion. For a high magnetization, the measured values of the moment of the magnetomechanical effect exceed the calculated values, which can be due to the effect of magnetic field nonuniformity and inhomogeneity of the plasma near the solenoid ends.