Theoretical and experimental study of a high-current vacuum arc in a uniform axial magnetic field

Abstract

Measurements of the electron temperature, floating potential, plasma density, and average plasma pressure in a magnetically confined high-current vacuum arc are described. A 40-mm-diam, 30-mm-long arc was initiated between OFCu copper electrodes in a uniform axial magnetic field by triggering the gap. The crest values of the arc current ranged from 3 to 20 kA. The electron temperature by Langmuir probe measurement was Te= 2.5–3.0 eV with a uniform space distribution and was independent of the arc current. The space distribution of the ion density was parabolic in the radial direction and with a zero derivative in the axial direction. The average plasma pressure by paramagnetic measurement increased with the square of the arc current. The experiment showed that the arc column could be considered as an infinitely long column in which the plasma parameters have zero axial derivatives. Theoretical analysis has been carried out under the following assumptions. An infinitely long cylindrical and fully ionized steady-state plasma in which all quantities varied in the r direction only was considered. The anisotropy factor σ∥/σ⊥ for electrical conductivities was taken into account in the theoretical analysis, where σ∥ and σ⊥ were electrical conductivities parallel to the magnetic field and perpendicular to it, respectively. The plasma parameters determined from the experiments and theoretical analysis agreed closely with each other when the factor σ∥/σ⊥ was equal to ∼2, which is the theoretical upper limit in a high magnetic field. Constant temperature characteristics independent of the arc current have been found to be clearly seen by using line radiation as the dominant power loss in the power balance equation.