真空电弧等离子体发射光谱诊断

真空断路器的开断容量限制其在高压大电流开断领域的应用,获取燃弧过程中的等离子体参数对于提高真空断路器的开断容量至关重要。利用发射光谱法对真空电弧内的等离子体参数进行了诊断,研究了在不同电流幅值条件下真空电弧内电子温度、电子密度、谱线强度的轴向分布规律,结合真空电弧高速图片对真空电弧内不同粒子的扩散过程与弧柱直径之间的关系进行了分析。得到的电子温度在8000～10 000 K量级,电子密度在1019～1020 m?3量级,电子温度与电子密度从阴极向阳极逐渐下降,同时铜原子谱线强度主要集中在两极而一价铜离子谱线强度由阴极向阳极逐渐升高。铜原子谱线强度的径向分布呈现类平顶波分布、一价铜离子谱线强度的径向分布呈现类高斯分布的特点,且铜原子的谱线范围略大于弧柱直径,一价铜离子的谱线范围略小于弧柱直径,两种粒子的扩散速度存在差异。     

基于等离子体粒子模拟的喷气Z箍缩过程物理研究

给出了喷气Z箍缩动力学过程在二维柱坐标系下的等离子体粒子模拟物理模型,编写了相应的程序.对低电流驱动下的稀薄喷气Z箍缩动力学过程进行了验证性的等离子体粒子模拟,得到了许多微观的Z箍缩物理信息,如负载中的电流(密度)、电磁场、粒子位置和密度的时空演化,以及总的z箍缩拖尾质量和拖尾电流等信息.发现在Z箍缩过程中,模拟得到的等离子体电流随时间的变化反映出了等离子体箍缩到心和反弹的过程特征,磁场随径向的变化与长直导线电流给出的磁场很接近;电子所受到的电场力和磁场力(洛伦兹力)是相当的,而离子所受到的力主要是电场力;电子首先在z方向加速,然后在自身运动产生电流的磁场的作用下向轴心箍缩,而离子是在电子和离子电荷分离所产生的电场力的作用下向轴心运动;在压缩到轴心附近时,电子首先因静电排斥而飞散,而离子则在惯性的作用下继续向轴心箍缩,而后滞止飞散.Z箍缩等离子体的拖尾质量在20%左右,拖尾电流最大时在7%左右.     

高密度等离子体融断开关融蚀现象的粒子模拟研究

 利用自行研制的2.5维全电磁柱坐标粒子模拟程序对高密度等离子体融断开关融断区域中的融蚀现象进行了模拟研究,详细地介绍了计算模型的建立以及复杂边界的算法处理。模拟结果表明在融断开关导通电流的最后阶段,由于磁压力、磁场渗透作用和非中性静电融蚀作用,在融断区域的阴极附近会形成一定宽度的真空鞘层。由于等离子体密度的下降以及初始真空鞘层的存在,使得即使只有较小的离子电流,融蚀机制也完全可以导致PEOS最终断开。     

低密度等离子体融断开关的粒子模拟研究

 采用2.5维柱坐标粒子模拟程序研究了低密度等离子体融断开关（PEOS）工作过程中的物理现象,介绍了计算模型的建立和复杂边界的算法处理。模拟结果表明,在PEOS导通电流的过程中,电流通道最初在等离子体的发生器端形成,并且随着导通时间的增大而向负载端漂移。离子的空间分布并没有明显的变化,当PEOS发生断路时,等离子体离子的密度会迅速降低,并最终导致PEOS阴极附近的等离子体的密度已接近为零,此时,阴极电子完全受磁场箍缩作用而不能到达阳极,PEOS完全断开。     

2 cm电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源中磁场对等离子体特性与壁面电流影响的数值模拟

电子回旋共振离子推力器(electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster,ECRIT)离子源内等离子体分布会影响束流引出,而磁场结构决定的ECR区与天线的相对位置共同影响了等离子体分布.在鞘层作用下,等离子体中的离子或电子被加速对壁面产生溅射,形成壁面离子或电子电流,造成壁面磨损和等离子体损失,因此研究壁面电流与等离子体特征十分重要.为此本文建立2 cm ECRIT的粒子PIC/MCC(particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision)仿真模型,数值模拟研究磁场结构对离子源内等离子体与壁面电流特性的影响.计算表明,当ECR区位于天线上游时,等离子体集中在天线上游和内外磁环间,栅极前离子密度最低,故离子源引出束流、磁环端面电流和天线壁面电流较低.ECR区位于天线下游时,天线和栅极上游附近的等离子体密度较高,故离子源引出束流、天线壁面电流和磁环端面电流较高.腔体壁面等离子体分布与电流受磁场影响最小.     

外磁场作用下的磁等离子体动力学过程仿真

磁等离子体动力学推力器是空间高功率电推进装置的典型代表,磁等离子体动力学过程是其核心工作机制.为深入理解外磁场对其工作特性的影响,本文采用粒子云(particle in cell,PIC)方法结合基于自相似准则的缩比模型,进行外加磁场作用下磁等离子体动力学推力器工作过程的建模仿真,通过与实验结果对比验证模型和方法的可靠性,并重点分析推力器点火启动过程的等离子特性参数分布,以及外磁场和阴极电流对推力器工作性能的影响.研究结果表明:阴阳极放电电弧构建是推力器启动和高效工作的关键步骤;外磁场强度较低工况不利于构建稳定放电电弧,等离子体束流集中于轴线附近,推力主要产生机制是自身场加速;外磁场强度较高时,阴阳极放电电弧稳定,推力产生主要机制是涡旋加速,推力、比冲随外磁场强度线性增大;推力器效率随阴极电流和外磁场强度增大而增大;放电电压随阴极电流增大而增大,但随外磁场强度的增大表现出先减小后增大的趋势.     

外磁场作用下的磁等离子体动力学过程仿真

磁等离子体动力学推力器是空间高功率电推进装置的典型代表,磁等离子体动力学过程是其核心工作机制.为深入理解外磁场对其工作特性的影响,本文采用粒子云(particle in cell,PIC)方法结合基于自相似准则的缩比模型,进行外加磁场作用下磁等离子体动力学推力器工作过程的建模仿真,通过与实验结果对比验证模型和方法的可靠性,并重点分析推力器点火启动过程的等离子特性参数分布,以及外磁场和阴极电流对推力器工作性能的影响.研究结果表明:阴阳极放电电弧构建是推力器启动和高效工作的关键步骤;外磁场强度较低工况不利于构建稳定放电电弧,等离子体束流集中于轴线附近,推力主要产生机制是自身场加速;外磁场强度较高时,阴阳极放电电弧稳定,推力产生主要机制是涡旋加速,推力、比冲随外磁场强度线性增大;推力器效率随阴极电流和外磁场强度增大而增大;放电电压随阴极电流增大而增大,但随外磁场强度的增大表现出先减小后增大的趋势.     

同轴电极结构下真空放电等离子体生成及传播特性

采用放电电流为100~300 A、持续时间为13 s的单脉冲电源,设计了两种同轴电极结构作为放电阳极,分别为筒状电极、喷嘴状电极。利用MAXWELL 3D电场仿真软件对两种电极结构下的电场分布进行了仿真分析,并采用探针法对放电生成的等离子体的参数进行了测量,分析讨论了同轴电极结构对真空放电等离子体生成特性的影响。选取喷嘴状电极结构作为阳极,分别测量了采用铅、铝、铜三种材质的阴极时生成的等离子体的扩散速度及能量。实验与仿真结果表明:当阳极为喷嘴状电极时阴极尖端的电场强度较大,测得放电电流较大,击穿电压较低,等离子体密度也较大;采用铝材质阴极时生成的等离子体扩散速度最快,采用铅材质阴极时生成的等离子体的离子动能最大。     

圆形复合式磁控溅射阴极设计及其放电特性模拟研究

基于二维有限元算法使用COMSOL软件对圆形复合式磁控溅射阴极的磁场进行了计算,结合Matlab优化工具箱分别采用遗传算法和模拟退火算法对圆形复合式磁控溅射阴极的结构进行优化,得到靶材利用率达到最大的最优结构.对得到的最优化磁控阴极,基于自洽粒子模拟方法,使用VSim软件对不同工况下的放电特性进行了模拟.研究发现随着磁场非平衡度的增加,阴极表面电势降落最大的位置和等离子体聚集的位置,沿着阴极表面外沿不断向阴极中心移动,阴极表面磁场的强度不断减小.随着磁场非平衡度的增加,等离子体密度先增加后减小,鞘层厚度先减小后增加,等离子体的密度和鞘层厚度不仅与磁场非平衡度有关,而且与磁场强度有关.最后根据粒子模拟的结果,对复合式磁控阴极的靶材刻蚀深度进行了研究.研究发现,在优化前后靶材的刻蚀范围从60 mm扩展至整个靶面,极大地提高了靶材利用率.     

等离子体融断开关磁场Hall渗透机制的模拟研究

 利用自行研制的2-1/2维全电磁柱坐标粒子模拟程序对等离子体融断开关磁场渗透机制进行了模拟研究。模拟结果表明在磁场Hall渗透机制特征长度远远小于等离子体离子的无碰撞趋肤深度的条件下,等离子体内部磁场渗透过程主要由电子流体运动的Hall项来控制。对于等离子体空间分布存在较大的密度梯度的物理问题,必须考虑二维空间特性对磁场渗透速度的影响。在磁场已渗透经过的等离子体区域中,等离子体呈现非电中性,离子受静电场的作用会加速运动到达阴极,最终形成真空鞘层。     

Investigation of unstable motion characteristics of vacuum arc cathode spots between transverse magnetic field contacts

With the improvement of the current level of power grids, the requirements of the opening level of the vacuum switches are also increasing. Vacuum arc cathode spots provide steam and electrons and, to a certain extent, determine the opening capacity of the vacuum switch. In this paper, a vacuum arc cathode spot research platform based on the de-mountable vacuum chamber is constructed. The characteristics of the vacuum arc cathode spots under the transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts are assessed by a high-speed charge coupled device. The experimental results show that the cathode spot diffusion process can be divided into three processes through cathode spot distribution, arc voltage and current: initial diffusion stage of cathode spots, unstable motion stage of cathode spots, and extinguishing stage. The motion mode of cathode spots during unstable motion stage can be divided into cathode spots group stagnation (CSGS) to multi-cathode jet (MCJ) switch mode, cathode spots group motion (CSGM) to MCJ switch mode, CSGM mode, and MCJ mode. The effects of peak current and contact diameter on unstable motion mode were analysed.     

Vacuum arc cathode spot grouping and motion in magnetic fields

Two of the important vacuum arc phenomena observed when the arc runs in a transverse magnetic field are cathode spot grouping and the cathode spot retrograde motion, i.e., in the anti-Amperian direction. This paper summarizes the main experimental observations and proposes a physical model for spot grouping and spot retrograde motion. The proposed spot motion model take in account the previous theoretical model of the cathode thermal regime and the plasma flow near the cathode surface that is based on two conditions: i) the heat loss in the cathode bulk is relatively small to the heat influx, and ii) the plasma flow in the Knudsen layer is impeded. In the present model, the current per group spot is calculated by assuming that the plasma kinetic pressure is comparable to the self-magnetic pressure in the acceleration region of cathode plasma jet. The model includes equations for the current per spot group, spot velocity dependence on the magnetic field and on the arc current in vacuum, as well as in gas filled arc gap. The calculated currents per spot group and spot velocity increase linearly with the magnetic field and arc current, and this dependencies well agree with previous observations. The cathode spot retrograde motion in short electrode gaps and at atmospheric pressure arcs, and the reversal motion in strong magnetic fields (>1 T) observed by Robson and Engel are discussed. The details of the retrograde motion observed in the last decades including the spot velocity dependence on the electrode gap, roughness, temperature, and material could be understood in the frame of the proposed model.     

Cathode processes in free burning and stabilized by axial magneticfield vacuum arcs

Collective behavior of the cathode spots (CS) has been investigated in free burning and stabilized by axial magnetic field (AMF) vacuum arcs. Experiments carried out proved previously discovered phenomenon of CS group formation in free burning arc to be a general phenomenon for a short high-current vacuum arc. The dependency of CS group size in the developed are on arc current for different contact materials has been analyzed. Application of AMF with even relatively low intensity strongly affects on cathode processes. In short arcs, it hinders formation of the CS group and consequently reduces thermal stress applied to the electrodes. It has been revealed that high current vacuum arc under the action of AMF can exist only at current densities exceeding certain minimal value that depends on AMF intensity, contact gap, and does not depend on current itself. The dependency of this minimal (or normal) current density on AMF intensity has been studied for short and long vacuum arcs. A qualitative model of the cathode spot dynamics has also been proposed     

Anode jet in a high-current vacuum arc

A stable intense jet with a clear-cut bright sheath has been detected on the anode of a 10-ms-long high-current vacuum arc with a current amplitude of 15 kA. The jet is adjacent to the hot spot of a molten metal on the anode surface. The primary light of the jet is emitted by neutrals. The sheath of the jet is surrounded by an ion-induced diffuse glow. The anode jet arises from interaction between the cathode and anode plasmas. Because of this, the size of the jet inversely depends on the current of the arc and the jet becomes observable only by the end of the current pulse. This object (anode jet with a bright sheath) is well reproducible when the arc is initiated between copper-chromium electrodes. In the case of pure copper electrodes, such objects occur randomly and appear at long projections of the molten metal, where heat release is hampered, and at large drops moving in the interelectrode gap. This means that the anode evaporation intensity is crucial for the appearance of bright-sheath jets.     

Cathode spot dynamics on pure metals and composite materials inhigh-current vacuum arcs

An investigation has been carried out of cathode spot dynamics in a triggered vacuum arc in a demountable chamber. A rectangular current pulse of 1-5 kA, 1-5 ms has been used. Sufficient statistics were collected. The expansion of a cathode spot ring on a clean, pure metal surface was corroborated to be a retrograde movement in the self-magnetic field which obeys the same law as the movement of a single spot in an external magnetic field. The influence of a contact gap of 0.5-8 mm and current on the dynamics of cathode spots was investigated. The gap dependence of the proportional coefficient between the spot velocity and magnetic field in the case of a pure copper cathode was obtained. A phenomenon was discovered, where a group of cathode spots form in the short arcs on the CuCr cathodes after a transition diffuse arc stage. The follow-up investigation revealed that a close interrelation exists between the cathode and anode processes in short arcs. This interrelation is responsible for the appearance of the discovered phenomenon. Short-circuit performance tests conducted for a commercial vacuum interrupter proved cathode spot group formation to be responsible for the interruption failure at short contact gaps     

Interaction of plasma jets and droplets in the cathode region of a vacuum arc

The interaction of liquid-metal droplets with plasma jets in the cathode region of a vacuum arc is considered in the context of an ecton model. It is shown that heating of a droplet in the cathode spot region can initiate the droplet transition to the plasma state.     

Voltage of the vacuum arc with a ring anode in an axial magneticfield

The plasma jet focusing and voltage distribution in the interelectrode gap of a vacuum arc with a ring anode and subjected to an axial magnetic field were studied theoretically. A two-dimensional model was developed based on the free plasma jet expansion into vacuum, and the steady-state solution of the fully ionized plasma in the hydrodynamic approximation was analyzed. It was found that the imposition of an axial magnetic field reduces the radial expansion of the plasma jet. The characteristic jet angle decreases from about 40° in the zero magnetic field case and approaches a value of about 20° with a 0.02 T magnetic field. The arc voltage consisting of the cathode drop, the plasma voltage drop, and anode sheath drop increased, with the imposition of a magnetic field, and decreased with the anode length. The model was compared to experimental measurements of the vacuum arc voltage behavior in an axial magnetic field, and good agreement was found     

氘化物阴极真空弧放电光斑分布

氘化物真空弧放电在许多领域均有应用,如无损检测、石油探井、中子活化分析等。和金属阴极不同,氘化物阴极放电时会释放大量的气体分子,表现出许多不同性质。采用放大镜头和ICCD相机观察了氘化物阴极真空弧放电光斑分布。测量系统的空间分辨率约为5 μm,时间分辨率最小2 ns。放电脉冲半高全宽（FWHM）0.9 μs,弧流波形为半周期正弦波。实验结果表明,氘化物真空弧放电时,所有阴极斑聚集为一个群落,表现为一个大光斑;在液滴作用下,阴极斑群落偶尔也会分裂为两个或多个群落;光斑形状不受弧流影响,但面积和亮度会随弧流增加而增大。氘化物阴极放电斑点聚集有利于产生高密度等离子体,提高放电效率。     

High current density spotless vacuum arc as a glow discharge

Vacuum discharge burning between a broad cathode and a point anode made of Mo, Cu, and Cd has been studied. This discharge operates in anode vapors and shows major arc characteristics, although no craters were examined on the cathode. The secondary electron emission is involved to explain current transport within the cathode region. This discharge is interpreted as a high density low voltage glow discharge. Having discussed the present and previous findings, the conclusion has been drawn that the secondary electron emission and “hump of potential” are dominant in the vacuum arc cathode spot