Arc Attachment Research Articles

Non-transferring arc and wire additive manufacturing: microstructure, mechanical properties and bulk texture evolution of deposits

PurposeThis study aims to demonstrate a modified wire arc additive manufacturing (AM) named non-transferring arc and wire AM (NTA-WAM). Here, the build plate has no electrical arc attachment, and the system’s arc is ignited between tungsten electrode and filler wire.Design/methodology/approachThe effect of various deposition conditions (welding voltage, travel speed and wire feed speed [WFS]) on bead characteristics is studied through response surface methodology (RSM). Under optimum deposition condition, a single-bead and thin-layered part is fabricated and subjected to microstructural, tensile testing and X-ray diffraction study. Moreover, bulk texture analysis has been carried out to illustrate the effect of thermal cycles and tensile-induced deformations on fibre texture evolutions.FindingsRSM illustrates WFS as a crucial deposition parameter that suitably monitors bead width, height, penetration depth, dilution, contact angle and microhardness. The ferritic (acicular and polygonal) and lath bainitic microstructure is transformed into ferrite and pearlitic micrographs with increasing deposition layers. It is attributed to a reduced cooling rate with increased depositions. Mechanical testing exhibits high tensile strength and ductility, which is primarily due to compressive residual stress and lattice strain development. In deposits, ϒ-fibre evolution is more resilient due to the continuous recrystallisation process after each successive deposition. Tensile-induced deformation mostly favours ζ and ε-fibre development due to high strain accumulations.Originality/valueThis modified electrode arrangement in NTA-WAM suitably reduces spatter and bead height deviation. Low penetration depth and dilution denote a reduction in heat input that enhances the cooling rate.

Experimental study of CO2 dissociation in an expanding dc arc discharge at atmospheric pressure with multiple pin-to-pin electrodes

In the following study, we examine the performance of a new design of the classic gliding arc discharge (GAD) with diverging electrodes between dielectric walls at atmospheric pressure. In the present design, a tungsten pin-to-pin electrode pair ladder replaces the standard curved diverging electrodes. A major problem with the classic GAD design is the surface erosion of the electrodes, which leads to bad repeatability and issues with long-term usage. The new construction provides controlled electrode wear at well-defined points of arc attachment. This ensures stable operation while retaining the arc expansion effect. This new configuration of the discharge is being developed for gas treatment. In the current work, the device was applied for CO2 dissociation. The most significant quantities for this application of the GAD, the CO2 conversion rate and energy efficiency, are measured at different gas flow rates (2–12 Ln/min) and arc currents (50–210 mA). The results are analyzed and compared with previous measurements using the classic GAD at the same conditions.

Influence of the aerodynamic flow on the dynamic characteristics of a lightning sweeping arc

Lightning arc attachments during swept strokes are key information in the lightning protection design of fast-moving aircraft, wind turbines, rockets, etc. However, numerical modeling has not achieved success to predict the movement of lightning sweeping arcs due to the limited understanding of the complex multi-physics convolution in the arc fluid at present. This work builds a dynamic magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) arc model based on the setup in the laboratory simulation of the lightning continuing current and couples the electric–magnetic–thermal–force processes to get insights into the lightning arc dynamics. The MHD theory and Newton’s second law of motion are also incorporated to describe the movement of arc segments in the conditions of aerodynamic flows with different intensities. Results show that, at the center region of the arc, the electromagnetic force, thermal buoyancy, and aerodynamic force are competitive, and all are determiners in predicting the arc displacement. In contrast, at the root region of the arc, the electromagnetic force dominates the arc movement with a flow speed under 10 m/s, while aerodynamic force takes the dominant role when the flow speed exceeds 50 m/s. The arc sweeping distance expands from 0.02 to 1.01 m as the aerodynamic flow increases from 5 to 200 m/s. Meanwhile, when increasing the pitch angle of the arc-connected surface, the arc root becomes more attached to the surface and the sweeping distance is predicted to get reduced. The conclusions offer references to construct a numerical model and predict the complex arc movement during lightning sweeping strokes.

Instability and dynamic behavior of arc attachments on electrodes and the effect on electrode erosion

Plasma interacting with electrodes is one of the most challenging issues in many industrial applications, such as power-interruption and plasma-metal erosion. Because of the concentration of arc attachments (root) and the voltage drop across the plasma sheath layer, the arc roots consume great amount of energy, which subsequently will increase the local temperature and erode the electrodes. Due to the nonequilibrium condition at plasma sheath, it is very difficult to quantitatively estimate the arc root temperature profile. The recognition of arc roots behavior, like instability and pattern formation, is important to estimate the electrode erosion. The potential drop arising through the sheath (double layer) is nonuniform. Due to thermionic field emission, the strong flux of charge carriers through the sheath will cause instability of the double layer, which weakens the inner potential gradient. As a result, the strong current dependent potential drop features a negative resistance. The existence of negative resistance causes the instability of arc attachments in the forms of immobility and constriction. Their interdependence between local current density and potential drop gives rise to the arc root formation that concentrates the energy into a small spot. Owing to the negative resistance, any perturbation will cause the current density in the sheath to grow to approximately infinity or decay to vanish, namely arc root formation or extinction. Thereby, the arc root instability provides the basis for the dynamic behavior of arc attachments and detachments on the electrodes, which will help to understand electrode erosion and avoid the damage from the arc plasma in engineering applications.

Numerical analysis of direct-current (DC) plasma processing for high-efficient steel surface modification

Nowadays, direct-current (dc) non-transferred arc plasma torch has drawn significant interest from both academia and industry due to the capability to process products in an efficient and convenient way. The core of this technology is to clarify and manipulate the arc behavior at the interior of the dc plasma torch to produce ideal plasma jets for processing. To solve this problem, a quasi-steady axisymmetric model is built to simulate and compare the arc characteristics in different operating conditions and different nozzle structures of the plasma torch. The results uncover distinct aspects of the study on arc characteristics, including the detection of the primary arc attachment region and its spatial features caused by the choking effect of torch structure. The thermal efficiency focused on processing substrate is also calculated in this paper for estimating the performance of plasma processing. The calculated results show that increasing the mass flow rate brings better thermal efficiency and the greatest promotion is at least 6% in the same current value, whereas improving the arc current value causes the opposite result. Meanwhile, two types of nozzle are compared to the original design in thermal efficiency, where the wide nozzle is chosen for torch optimization due to its best power efficiency. The secondary arc attachment on the metal substrate is discovered though its impact scope is only within a radius of 10 mm from the torch axis, its effect on the processing could be ignored for the extremely low electric current value.

Analytical Investigation of Lightning Strike-Induced Damage of OPGWs Based on a Coupled Arc-Electrical-Thermal Simulation

This study investigated lightning-induced damage of optical fiber overhead ground wires (OPGWs) through damage measurements, numerical simulations and influencing factor analysis. A high-precision damage measurement method was proposed to calculate the lightning damage volume based on laser profile scanning and a developed data processing program. The time-and-space-varying current and heat flows obtained from an arc magnetohydrodynamic model were loaded on OPGWs by stepwise segmental injection to establish a coupled arc-thermal-electric model and simulate the heating and damage behavior of OPGWs. The comparisons indicated that the simulated metal phase transition region agreed well with the actual damage distribution, and the area surrounded by the aluminum melting point isotherm provided a good prediction of the arc sweep damage. The hysteresis of the temperature rise suggested that lightning damage was dominated by heat flow conduction rather than the Joule heating effect. Furthermore, the continuing current was the main cause of severe damage. The damage volume increased linearly with increasing charge transfer. As the discharge gap increases, the arc loading intensity decreases, but the damage volume undergoes a non-monotonic change, which is due to the complex variations in the arc attachment area regulated by the discharge gap and current intensity.

Analysis of processes leading to explosive phenomena on the surface of a liquid cathode at the time of the dc electric arc ignition

The paper considers various causes of explosions on the cathodes surface in the region of arc attachment in a direct current arc discharge. Estimates of the characteristic times of the development of instabilities during the passage of current through the liquid tip of the cathode are made. As a result, an assumption was put forward that, starting from the moment of formation of the stretched tip and up to the explosion, at different stages of the stretches development, various instabilities alternately play the main roles.

Arc hopping dynamics induced by interfacial negative differential resistance.

Pattern formation in plasma-solid interaction represents a great research challenge in many applications from plasma etching to surface treatment, whereby plasma attachments on electrodes (arc roots) are constricted to self-organized spots. Gliding arc discharge in a Jacob's Ladder, exhibiting hopping dynamics, provides a unique window to probe the nature of pattern formation in plasma-surface interactions. In this work, we find that the existence of negative differential resistance (NDR) across the sheath is responsible for the observed hopping pattern. Due to NDR, the current density and potential drop behave as activator and inhibitor, the dynamic interactions of which govern the surface current density re-distribution and the formation of structured spots. In gliding arc discharges, new arc roots can form separately in front of the existing root(s), which happens periodically to constitute the stepwise hopping. From the instability phase-diagram analysis, the phenomenon that arc attachments tend to constrict itself spontaneously in the NDR regime is well explained. Furthermore, we demonstrate via a comprehensive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) computation that the existence of a sheath NDR can successfully reproduce the arc hopping as observed in experiments. Therefore, this work uncovers the essential role of sheath NDR in the plasma-solid surface pattern formation and opens up a hitherto unexplored area of research for manipulating the plasma-solid interactions.

Three-dimensional unsteady model of arc heater plasma flow

Arc jets are unique facilities used to evaluate the performance of Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) for hypersonic vehicles. They produce high pressure and high enthalpy plasma flow to simulate the extreme heat encountered during atmospheric entry. The constricted arc heater part of an arc jet increases the test gas temperature by Joule heating. This study details the development of the three-dimensional unsteady plasma flow analysis tool, ARCHeS (ARC Heater Simulator). Coupled Navier-Stokes, radiative transfer and Maxwell equations yield current density, magnetism, radiation, and flow field solutions. The present work constitutes the first demonstration of an unsteady three-dimensional plasma flow simulation of high pressure and high enthalpy arc heater that captures kink instabilities of the electric arc. It is found that the arc attachment is mainly driven by upstream arc instabilities.

Numerical Analysis of Metal Transfer Process in Plasma MIG Welding

In plasma MIG welding, inert gas introduced from the torch nozzle is ionized in the upstream region of the MIG arc, which is termed “plasma”. This study aims to clarify the effect of the plasma on the metal-transfer process in the plasma MIG welding through numerical analysis. As a result, the plasma with a temperature of approximately 10,000 K was found to be formed around the wire tip. The MIG arc temperature around the wire tip was 11,000 K at the maximum, which was lower than that of the conventional MIG welding by approximately 1000 K. This difference was caused by the decreased current density around the wire tip due to the influence of the plasma. The droplet temperature was also decreased by 400 K due to this lower current density. The amount of the metal vapor evaporated from the droplet was decreased compared to that of the conventional MIG welding due to the lower droplet temperature. This might lead to a decrease in fume formation generally known in the plasma MIG welding. In the conventional MIG welding, the arc attachment was concentrated around the wire tip, leading to a higher current density. However, in the plasma MIG welding, the plasma transported to the surrounding of the wire tip increases the electric conductivity in that region, due to the influence of the metal vapor mixture. This leads to the dispersion of the arc attachment toward the wire root. Consequently, the current density in the plasma MIG welding was found to decrease compared with that of the conventional MIG welding. The lower current density in plasma MIG welding decreases the Lorenz force acting on the wire neck, thus delaying droplet detachment to make the droplet diameter larger and the metal transfer frequency smaller. The latter was about 20% of that in the conventional MIG welding.

Thermal non-equilibrium simulation of diffuse and constricted anode attachments of a high intensity transferred arc

The arc attachment modes on anode of a high intensity argon arc with water-cooled constrictor are numerically investigated by a two-temperature model. An inelastic electron energy loss factor, representing the energy loss due to non-equilibrium chemical kinetic processes, is introduced to the electron energy equation. Two different attachment modes, i.e., diffuse and constricted anode attachments, are obtained based on the experimental conditions. Results for both anode attachment modes indicate that the temperature discrepancy between electrons and heavy particles is very pronounced in the arc fringes and in the regions close to the anode. By comparing the axial and radial Lorentz forces between the diffuse and constricted anode attachments, it is found that the larger axial and radial Lorentz forces in a constricted anode attachment are the main cause for the formation and maintenance of anode jet. The effects of inelastic electron energy loss on different anode attachment modes are discussed and the results indicate that it is very important to consider the chemical non-equilibrium processes in an appropriate way for predicting arc attachment modes on anode reasonably.

Determination of positive anode sheath in anodic carbon arc for synthesis of nanomaterials

In the atmospheric pressure anodic carbon arc, ablation of the anode serves as a feedstock of carbon for production of nanomaterials. It is known that the ablation of the graphite anode in this arc can have two distinctive modes with low and high ablation rates. The transition between these modes is governed by the power deposition at the arc attachment to the anode and depends on the gap between the anode and the cathode electrodes. Probe measurements combined with optical emission spectroscopy are used to analyze the voltage drop between the arc electrodes. These measurements corroborated previous predictions of a positive anode sheath (i.e. electron attracting sheath) in this arc, which appears in both low and high ablation modes. However, the positive anode sheath was determined to be ∼3–8 V, significantly larger than ∼0.5 V predicted by previous models. Thus, there are apparently other physical mechanisms not considered by these models that force the anode sheath to be electron attracting in both ablation regimes. Another key result is a relatively low electron temperature (∼0.6 eV) obtained from OES using a collisional radiative model. This result partially explains a higher arc voltage (∼20 V) required to sustain the arc current of 50–70 A than predicted by existing simulations of this discharge.

Lightning arc channel effects on surface damage development on a PRSEUS composite panel: An experimental study

Composite aircraft structures are vulnerable to lightning strike damage due to their relatively low electrical and thermal conductivities. A preceding work has investigated the lightning damage resistance of a carbon-epoxy Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) panel. The damage includes intense local damage ( i.e. , matrix decomposition/sublimation, fiber rupture , delamination) accompanied by widespread surface damage ( i.e. , distributed fiber rupture and tow splitting) further from the lightning attachment point. This study focuses on investigating the cause of the widespread surface damage. Two possible driving mechanisms are explored: i ) magnetically-induced currents and ii ) lightning arc-root/channel expansion. Fifteen laboratory-scale lightning strike tests at nominal peak currents of 50–125 kA were performed on modified PRSEUS mid-bay locations. The surface modifications were placed adjacent to or enclosing the intended lightning arc attachment point, including through-slots, a non-conductive silicon-filled slot, insulating tape, and acrylic plates . The objective is to examine the effect of such barriers on lightning-induced surface damage for cases where the anisotropic lightning arc-root/channel expansion and/or the lightning arc primary current are constrained by the barriers, without affecting the magnetically-induced currents. In each of the lightning strike tests, both the intense local damage and widespread surface damage were limited by or enclosed within the insulating boundary. The placement of these boundaries altered the lightning arc-channel expansion or limited the interaction between the expanding-arc and the surface of the PRSEUS panel. These experiments demonstrate that the widespread surface damage outside of the attachment point primarily results from lightning arc-root/channel expansion rather than magnetically induced currents.

Arc dynamics in a vortex-stabilized non-transferred plasma torch with a tangential gas feed

The mode of anode arc attachments in a thermal plasma torch, such as constricted arc, multi-arc or diffused arc attachment, has operational as well as economic consequences on the use of plasma torches in industrial applications. The mode of arc attachment is strongly dependent on the gas flow dynamics, gas vortex formation and wall energy exchange. To gain more insight into arc attachment behaviour, this article presents a transient flow plasma model implemented using OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics code to study the effect of gas swirl and arc rotation on modes of arc attachments. A tangentially fed plasma gas creates a gas swirl that helps to induce the arc rotation. The investigations were carried out at arc currents between 200–450 A and input gas flow rates in the range of 5–20 slpm. High gas swirl and low arc currents are found to favour constricted attachment on the anode surface. The local gas vortex driven by the plasma swirl creates hot spots inside the torch that dictate the arc attachment. The transition of arc attachment from the diffuse to constricted mode was simulated by imposing a step-change in the gas flow which shows the evolution of different arc attachment behaviour. During the transition from constricted to diffused attachment, the arc tends to undergo a transitionary multi-attachment mode at specific selected current and flow parameters.

Numerical simulation of the effects of protrusion on DC arc anode attachment

The attachment of the DC arc on the anode is usually affected by surface morphology such as protrusions due to ablation or melting deformation. A three-dimensional thermodynamic and chemical non-equilibrium model is used to numerically simulate the effect of artificially assumed surface protrusions on the arc anode attachment. The numerical simulation results show that the arc deflects toward the protrusions on the anode and attaches to them in a constricted mode, resulting in an increase in the temperature of the arc attachment region. The analysis shows that the presence of protrusion on the anode surface changes the electric field distribution, intensifies the degree of thermodynamic and chemical non-equilibrium in its vicinity, further influences the chemical kinetic process of the plasma around it, which is the main reason for the deflection of the arc toward the protrusions and the arc anode attachment in a constricted mode. In order to verify the numerical simulation results, verification experiments are also performed using similar size scale anode protrusion, and the results showed that the presence of protrusion can indeed cause the deflection of the arc and even cause the ablation of the protrusion.

Non-equilibrium modeling on the plasma–electrode interaction in an argon DC plasma torch

A 2D two-temperature chemical non-equilibrium model considering both cathode and anode space-charge sheath is applied to investigate the plasma–electrode interaction in a laminar argon DC plasma torch working at atmospheric pressure. In order to validate the model, the predicted arc voltage is compared with experimental values under different working conditions, and a reasonable agreement is obtained. The distributions of arc characteristics in the plasma column and electrode regions of a DC arc plasma torch are analyzed in detail. Moreover, the effects of thoriated tungsten, pure tungsten and non-uniform thoriated tungsten cathodes on the plasma characteristics inside the DC plasma torch are investigated. It is found that a constricted arc attachment with the highest current density is obtained at the non-uniform cathode, leading to the largest velocity and electric potential drop in the plasma column. The pure tungsten cathode produces the highest temperatures and heat flux along the cathode surface, which is caused by the largest arc voltage and intense space-charge sheath heating. The temperature and heat flux density on the thoriated tungsten cathode are the lowest, leading to a diffuse distribution of current density. The results indicate that the different cathodes can exert an important influence upon the plasma behavior near the cathode. Furthermore, the torch exit parameters are also slightly different due to their different arc voltages and overall input power.

A novel anode structure for diffuse arc anode attachment

A novel method for adjusting the direct current arc anode attachment mode by changing the anode surface structure is proposed. A transferred arc device is used to investigate the effect on the arc anode attachment state of the electrode separation and the presence and dimensions of an annular boss, or embossing, on the anode. The experimental results show the diffuse arc anode attachment mode is more likely to be formed in the presence of an annular boss structure on the anode, compared to the standard planar structure. In the case of argon working gas, as the distance between the cathode and the anode increases from 15 mm to 30 mm, the arc maintains the diffuse arc attachment on the anode with the annular boss, while for a planar anode, the arc anode attachment mode changes from diffuse to constricted. Comparison of the measured temperature distribution by the relative intensity method and the emission intensity of the arc attachment region verifies that the annular boss anode can indeed promote diffuse attachment. Analysis of the electric field strength distribution between the electrodes shows that the introduction of the annular boss doubles the electric field strength near the anode surface due to the boss edge effect, which drives the arc to be evenly dispersed on the boss, resulting in the formation of diffuse arc attachment. The enlarged attachment area reduces the current density and heat flux on the anode surface, which is important for the stabilization of diffuse arc attachment. No obvious ablation is found on the surface of the annular boss anode after 1 h operation, while there significant ablation is evident on the surface of the planar anode.

Experimental investigation of interrupting capacity of low voltage circuit breaker

The experimental results of the circuit breaker interrupting capacity are presented in the article. The scheme of the experimental workbench and diagnostic methods are described. The study was performed using high-speed shooting methods. The high-speed shooting results and diagrams for different modes are presented. The analysis of the arc divider geometry influence on the extinguishing process for different modes and power factor is completed. A parametric study of the influence of the power factor, the interrupting current magnitude and the moment of switching on the extinction of the electric arc in the circuit breaker is also performed. The influence of the arc chute geometry on the formation of a new arc attachment point is shown in the article. The test was carried out on the basis of a specially developed prototype of a low-voltage circuit breaker (AC). The obtained results can be used when designing a low-voltage circuit breaker (AC).

Effect of a bidirectional coupling of an LTE arc column to a refractory cathode in atmospheric pressure argon

An appropriate coupling of an arc plasma column in the state of local thermodynamic equilibrium to a refractory cathode necessarily involves the non-equilibrium boundary layer between them. A model has been developed that combines a model of an equilibrium direct current arc plasma in atmospheric pressure argon with the assembly of a cathode made of tungsten and the boundary layer. A bidirectional coupling has been realized that allows us to consider a variable voltage drop across the boundary layer for different positions on the cathode. The results are obtained for arc currents between 10 and 150 A in the cases of both a unidirectional and a bidirectional coupling. The results show differences in the distributions of the temperature and the normal current density on the cathode surface and the radial and axial distributions of the plasma temperature. Comparison with the results of a fully non-equilibrium model of the arc plasma and experimental findings from optical emission spectroscopy shows a fair agreement for currents, where the deviations from equilibrium in the arc column can be ignored. For arc currents beyond 100 A, the arc attachment on the cathode appears in two forms, which differ from each other in the distributions of the temperature and the normal current density on the cathode surface, whereas the values of the total arc voltage are close to each other.

Three-dimensional chemical non-equilibrium simulation of an argon transferred arc with cross-flow

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. By examining the chemical reaction processes near the anode surface, it is found that the rate of electron-impact ionization of excited atoms and the three-body recombination rate are comparable at the positions in the upstream region close to the anode surface where the electron temperature is high, so the electron density does not increase in this region. Compared to the case without cross gas flow, the heavy-species temperature distribution becomes more constricted at a large cross-flow rate, and the energy loss due to the convective cooling makes the temperature gradients steeper on the side facing the cross-flow.