Dynamics of Gliding Arc Climbing in a Unipolar Jacob’s Ladder

Abstract

We have designed a device with a gliding unipolar arc of the Jacob’s ladder type. The dynamics of arc rising has been investigated. It is found that the arc climbs at a constant velocity on the major part of its path. The convective nature of the arc rise due to heating of air by the plasma is demonstrated. The dependence of the arc rise velocity on the opening angle between the electrodes is obtained. The dependence is found to be decaying.