Experimental observation and numerical analysis of arc plasmas diffused by magnetism

At atmospheric pressure, an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera with a narrow-band filter is used to capture the unsaturated images of a magnetically rotating arc. Comparison of its configurations with different arc current and external axial magnetic field (AMF) strength shows that the strong electromagnetic force may impel the arc to diffuse. Under the fully diffuse mode, the plasma is distributed throughout the electrode gap and no anode attachment can be seen in the cross-section of the torch. The fully diffuse plasma runs more steadily and its intensity distribution is more uniform, while its voltage fluctuation is reduced significantly. Using a commercial CFD (computational fluid dynamics) code FLUENT, the fluid flow and heat transfer of the fully diffuse plasma in an assumed magnetron torch have been simulated for qualitatively discussing the AMF effects. Numerical results show that the AMF significantly impels the plasma to retract axially and expand radially. As a result, the plasma intensity distribution on the cross section of the torch gets to be more uniform.