Determination of some transport properties of argon from transient arc behaviour

A new method is described which enables the electrical conductivity and electron mobility to be derived from the measurement of either the decay, following interruption, or response of a wall stabilized arc to a step change in current. This has been achieved by using a laser interferometer to record the corresponding change in electron density. The method has been applied to arcs of different radii and the derived transport properties are given in the range 8,800–12,200 °K for argon at atmospheric pressure.     

弓网电弧温度及导电特性的光谱分析

高铁提速受多方面因素制约，其中弓网离线对受流质量影响很大。在滑动接触模式下，受电弓与接触网的磨损均很严重。弓网离线产生的电弧是造成接触网和受电弓磨损的主要原因之一。电弧温度高，还具有电离特性，因此一般的传感器无法置于电弧中测量。光谱分析法在研究弓网电弧的温度及电子密度方面具有明显优势，基于此可进一步寻找耐磨损的新材料或者灭弧方法。因接触网使用铜合金材料，故选取铜元素特定光谱作为研究对象。采用Boltzman作图法，通过实验测得弓网电弧的光谱信息，进而计算电弧通道的温度。结果表明，由于单次电弧持续时间短又受弓网相对运动的影响，其温度并不很高，且电弧温度随着电弧持续时间的增加而增加。采用盲目反卷积的方法求解307.92 nm谱线的Stark展宽，再根据Stark展宽求得电弧的电子密度，结果表明弓网电弧通道的电子密度和其他种类电弧电子密度在同一数量级上；说明电弧引起的粒子电离效应明显。由此可知光谱法在电弧温度及电弧电离特性的分析中是较为方便和准确的。     

Pressure dependence of plasma parameters in medium-vacuum nitrogenarc discharge with the titanium cathode

The plasma properties of a medium-vacuum nitrogen arc discharge from a titanium cathode were studied. The arc chamber use was 400 mm in diameter and 600 mm in length. The cathode diameter and thickness were 64 and 25 mm, respectively. The experimental conditions are given as follows: pressure range=1×10^-3~2×10^-1 torr; N₂ gas flow rate=6 ml/min; arc current=50 A. Electric probe characteristics are measured as a function of pressure and distance from the cathode surface. The analytical results obtained show that the electron energy distribution takes 1-Mx at pressures above 1×10^-2 torr but 2-Mx at pressures under 4×10^-2 torr and that the electron density has a maximum value at a certain pressure. The Ti⁺, Ti⁺⁺, and N ⁺₂ ion spectral intensities are measured as a function of pressure and distance from the cathode surface. On comparison of these results and the electron density, the Ti⁺ spectral intensity turns out to be proportional to that of the electron density. This suggests that the major ion in the plasma volume is of the Ti⁺ species     

极性对自保护药芯焊丝电弧焊光谱特征的影响

由于自保护药芯焊丝具有抗风性以及优异的焊缝性能,已广泛应用于野外管道焊接以及大型机械的修复过程。电极极性是影响焊接过程的重要工艺参数。为了研究电极极性对电弧等离子体的影响机理,设计电弧等离子体空域中各点逐步扫描的同步采集系统,通过光谱特征谱线的分析,采用Stark谱线轮廓法计算电子密度,并且基于Boltzmann作图法计算电弧等离子体的温度,同时针对Al和Mg活性元素的分布特征进行分析。结果表明,靠近电极处,沿y轴负方向,直流正接时(焊丝接电源负极性),弧柱中心区电弧电子密度、电弧温度和活性元素呈现“水滴状”分布。而直流反接时(焊丝接电源正极性),弧柱中心区电弧电子密度、电弧温度和活性元素的分布特征表现为“手指状”分布。根据“自磁收缩”的原理,直流正接条件下,活性元素在径向方向受到的电磁力较小,整体分布呈现发散状。直流反接条件下,活性元素在径向方向受到的电磁力较大,收缩较为严重,整体表现为收缩状态。采用相同的电参数时,直流反接条件下弧柱中心区的电弧电子密度、电弧温度均大于直流正接条件下得到的电子密度和电弧温度,其中电子密度分布特征和带电粒子的电离程度是影响电弧温度的主要因素。在相同的电...     

A laser interferometer for measuring electron densities in an arc plasma

A Michelson interferometer working simultaneously at two wavelengths is used to follow the decay of the electron density n_e along the axis of a short-circuited dc-argon arc. Using optical isolation, compensating mirrors and quadrature signal detection results in a random error of 1% for n_e=5×10¹⁶ cm^-3.     

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。     

Messung und Deutung des Leitwertabklingens zylindrischer Bögen

The decay of the electrical conductance of the column of a cascaded arc (100 A) after current interruption is measured for the gases N₂, SF₆, CO₂ and Ar. Numerical computations of temperature and conductance decay are in good agreement with experiment for Ar but for N₂ and SF₆ there are drastic deviations. An interpretation of the decay processes is given by the aid of a simple model for the energy transfer including nonequilibrium processes with regard to recombination in the wall near arc regions. Introducing the model by a formal manner in the computer program leads to good agreement with experiment.     

基于光谱诊断的多丝熔化极气体保护焊电弧干扰分析

多丝熔化极气体保护焊中,由于电弧间的相互干扰,电弧工作状态不稳定,进而影响焊接过程稳定性和焊接质量。基于Boltzmann作图法测量电子温度场和Stark展宽法研究了多丝工作条件下电弧的电子温度分布和电子密度分布,结合高速摄影获得的定量化结果,给出电弧间干扰的定量化分析。光谱诊断结果表明双丝情况下,当加入电弧工作电流大于原电弧时,原电弧电子温度中心向新加入电弧稳定偏移,而且偏向新电弧一侧电子密度明显增加,而新电弧工作电流等于原电弧时,电弧电子温度和电子密度分布都反映出原电弧工作状态不稳定。三丝情况,由于加入第三根电弧,导致中间电弧电子温度分布变得复杂,而其电子密度分布接近于单丝工作情况。     

Parametric Mechanism of Anomalous Microwave Power Absorption in Experiments on Electron Cyclotron Heating in Toroidal Magnetic Traps

The nonlinear stage of the parametric decay instability of an extraordinary wave is analyzed in the presence of a nonmonotonic density profile. The decay excites an electron Bernstein wave, which is localized in the vicinity of a local density maximum, and an ion Bernstein wave, which leaves a nonlinear interaction region and is absorbed by ions in the vicinity of the harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency. The main mechanism of instability saturation is considered to be a cascade of decays of a primary daughter electron Bernstein wave, which leads to the excitation of localized secondary electron Bernstein waves and ion cyclotron (Bernstein) waves. The localization of electron Bernstein waves causes a significant decrease in the secondary- decay excitation threshold, which is thought to provide saturation of the primary instability at the lowest level. The saturation of the primary parametric decay instability of a pump wave and the anomalous absorption of the pump power are analytically estimated. A numerical simulation is performed using the parameters that are typical of the experiments on the electron cyclotron resonance heating of plasma at the second resonance harmonic in TCV tokamak.     

Evolution of Copper Vapor from the Cathode of a Diffuse Vacuum Arc

The metal-vapor evolution from the cathode of a diffuse vacuum arc is described by a model that starts from the expression for the collisionless expansion into vacuum of atoms originating from an instantaneous point source. The velocity distribution is assumed to be Maxwellian at the moment the atoms are released from the source. By convolution with the vapor generation rate, which is given by an effective erosion rate and the waveform of the arc current, this expression is generalized to yield the atomic density at an arbitrary distance from a point source which emits atoms for a finite period. The result is integrated over the cathode surface which is treated as an extended homogeneous source of vapor. The copper-vapor density was calculated for a vacuum arc driven by a sinusoidal 50-Hz current half-cycle of 500 A rms, for the center of the contact gap. With a vapor temperature of 2000 K and an effective copper-vapor erosion rate of 3 ?/C, the model well describes the measured decay of the copper-vapor density from about 5 × 1017 m-3 at 300 ?s before current-zero to 5 × 1014 m-3 at 400 ?s after current-zero. Comparison with calculations based on the assumption that metal vapor is generated predominantly by molten droplets evaporating in flight indicates that before current-zero the contribution of the droplets to the vapor density is negligibly small, while after current-zero both vapor generation mechanisms produce vapor at the same order of magnitude.     

Estimation of Post-Arc Neutral Vapor Density in the Gap Volume Generated by Evaporating Macroparticles in a Diffuse Vacuum Arc

This paper presents a mathematical model of calculations of the density of atoms evaporated from macroparticles in a diffuse vacuum arc. The influence of the initial temperature, diameter, and average velocity of the droplets, as well as the kind of the cathode metal on vapor density in the volume surrounding the electrodes was investigated. Both the initial density and the decay of vapor density were calculated for Cu and Cd electrodes following the extinction of the arc. The calculated densities constitute the basis for evaluating the influence of evaporating droplets on the development of electrical breakdown in a vacuum gap after arcing.     

Numerical analysis of chemical reaction processes in different anode attachments of a high-intensity argon arc

The attachment mode of arc on anode is closely related to the non-equilibrium chemical kinetics process of the anode region of arc. In this paper, the detailed chemical reaction mechanisms in the flow-affected region for both diffuse and constricted argon arc attachments are investigated by means of one-dimensional discharge coupled with a single-fluid, two-temperature model. The collisional-radiative model is used to examine the chemical reaction processes occurring in the anode region, including the arc centreline and fringe region. The numerical results are validated by comparison with available experimental data. The obtained radial distributions of electron temperature, electron density, excited states densities, ionization, and recombination processes reveal that different mechanisms dominate the diffuse and constricted arc-anode attachments.     

大气压下石英毛细管内氩等离子体放电的发射光谱诊断

在长度为20 cm的石英毛细管内利用两个边缘锋利的中空的针型电极之间的氩气放电产生了高电子密度的大气压等离子体。利用发射光谱对所获得的等离子体的几个重要参数进行了诊断。利用计算机谱线拟合法合成了300 nm附近OH(A-X)的(0-0)转动谱带并通过与测量谱线的比较确定了等离子体的气体温度,根据H_β谱线Stark展宽法计算了等离子体的电子密度,采用玻尔兹曼曲线斜率法依据测得的有关氩的发射光谱估算了等离子体的电子温度。研究结果表明,这种石英毛细管内弧光放电等离子体的气体温度约为(1 100±50)K;电子密度数量级在1014 cm-3;电子温度约为(14 515±500)K。     

Cathodic-arc plasma density, radial profile, and total plasmainventory as measured by microwave interferometer and Faraday cup

The total amount of plasma, peak plasma density, and plasma density radial profile are derived from a series of measurements of ion current density (with a Faraday cup) and integrated electron line density (with a microwave interferometer) for a cathodic arc derived plasma. Comparisons are made between cathode material (erbium and titanium), arc current, background gas pressure, and the presence or absence of a series magnetic solenoid around the coaxial anode and cathode     

Investigation of the Anode Boundary Layer of an Atmospheric Pressure Argon Arc

This paper is concerned with the thermodynamic state of the plasma in the anode region of a high intensity arc. Spectrometric studies of the boundary layer in front of a plane anode perpendicular to the axis of a wall-stablized, high-intensity arc in argon atmosphere indicate substantial deviations from LTE. Data taken at distances of 0.5 to 2 mm from the anode surface are evaluated with two different but not entirely independent non-equilibrium data reduction techniques in order to obtain radial distributions of electron temperature and electron density. The electron temperature distribution displays an off-axis peak which increases in magnitude with decreasing distance from the anode. Both electron temperatures and electron densities are considerably higher than the corresponding LTE values.     

Temperatures and charged particle densities in a metal-halide arc lamp; comparison of nonequilibrium spectroscopy and thermochemical calculations

Mass and energy spatial flows within high-pressure lighting plasmas containing metal halides may affect the plasma state of equilibrium. In this study, the effect of the thermochemical equilibrium assumptions on the determination of the plasma parameters in a sodium-iodide arc lamp is experimentally investigated. The electron temperature and electron, mercury-ion, and sodium-ion density as a function of the radial distance from the arc axis in a sodium-iodide arc lamp are determined using an emission spectroscopy technique, which is free of equilibrium assumptions. Comparison of the results with those assuming thermochemical equilibrium shows that the actual plasma state differs from that at equilibrium. Possible factors causing the observed differences are discussed.     

Analysis of plasma characteristics and conductive mechanism of laser assisted pulsed arc welding

This study aims to investigate the arc plasma shape and the spectral characteristics during the laser assisted pulsed arc welding process. The arc plasma shape was synchronously observed using a high speed camera, and the emission spectrum of plasma was obtained by spectrometer. The well-known Boltzmann plot method and Stark broadening were used to calculate the electron temperature and density respectively. The conductive mechanism of arc ignition in laser assisted arc hybrid welding was investigated, and it was found that the plasma current moved to the arc anode under the action of electric field. Thus, a significant parabolic channel was formed between the keyhole and the wire tip. This channel became the main method of energy transformation between the arc and the molten pool. The calculation results of plasma resistivity show that the laser plasma has low resistivity as the starting point of conductive channel formation. When the laser pulse duration increases, the intensity of the plasma radiation spectrum and the plasma electron density will increase, and the electron temperature will decrease.     

Time-domain ab initio simulation of electron and hole relaxation dynamics in a single-wall semiconducting carbon nanotube

The electron and hole relaxation in the (7, 0) zigzag carbon nanotube is simulated in time domain using a surface-hopping Kohn-Sham density functional theory. Following a photoexcitation between the second van Hove singularities, the electrons and holes decay to the Fermi level on characteristic subpicosecond time scales. Surprisingly, despite a lower density of states, the electrons relax faster than the holes. The relaxation is primarily mediated by the high-frequency longitudinal optical (LO) phonons. Hole dynamics are more complex than the electron dynamics: in addition to the LO phonons, holes couple to lower frequency breathing modes and decay over multiple time scales.     

A Power Interruption Technique for Investigation of Temperature Difference in Stabilized Low Direct-Current Arc Burning in Pure Argon on Atmospheric Pressure

Plasma of argon stabilized arc column, in a current range 3-11 A, is investigated using emission spectrometric diagnostic techniques. Temperatures are evaluated using several methods： argon line to adjacent recombinational continuum intensity ratio, absolute emissivity of argon line, measurement of electron number density, and power interruption. Electron number density is evaluated from absolute emissivity of recombinational continuum. The difference between electron Te and heavy particle Th temperature ranged from 4500 K for 3 A to 2300 K for 11A arc current. By comparing the present with the previously obtained results, using the same arc device but with the introduction of water aerosol, it is concluded that water aerosol reduces the difference Te - Th and brings plasma closer to the partial thermodynamic equilibrium state.