Chemical Non-Equilibrium Simulation of an Argon Transferred ARC with Cross-Flow

Abstract

A three-dimensional chemical non-equilibrium plasma simulation is performed to investigate the plasma characteristics of a high-intensity argon transferred arc exposed to cross-flow. The model is validated by comparison with experimental data from the literature, and reasonable agreement is obtained for the calculated electron temperature distributions. The simulation results indicate that the interactions of the cross gas flow with the plasma column have a significant influence on the distributions of the electric field close to the anode surface. At a high cross-flow rate, corresponding changes to the distributions of current density and Joule heating occur, leading to a high electron temperature zone stretching upstream of the arc attachment region.