TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavior of a High Current Vacuum Arc Between Hollow Cylindrical Electrodes in a Radial Magnetic Field
AU - Boxman, Raymond L.
AU - Gerby, Eli
AU - Goldsmith, S.
PY - 1980/12
Y1 - 1980/12
N2 - Experimental observations were conducted on the behavior of a high current vacuum arc on cylindrical electrodes in a radial magnetic field. The arc was sustained between the ends of two cylindrical Cu electrodes, 54-mm diam and 1.5-mm wall thickness separated by 5 mm. Arc current pulses with peak values in the range 4–15 kA with a half amplitude full width (HAFW) duration of 8 ms were investigated with radial magnetic fields proportional to the instantaneous current with proportionality constants of 4.0 and 6.5 × 10-6 T/A. The arcs were photographed simultaneously with a streak camera and by a high speed framing camera and the arc voltage was recorded on a digitizing transient recorder. The results indicated that the arc in this geometry, both with and without an imposed radial magnetic field, can be characterized by three development stages: a) arc formation, b) diffuse arc along the electrode perimeter, and c) simultaneous existence of several concentrated arc columns. When a radial magnetic field was imposed two changes were noted: 1) the arc appeared somewhat more distributed in that a greater number of constricted columns were observed, and they were distributed more evenly; and 2) the constricted columns moved in the J × B direction with velocities in the range 5–35 m/s.
AB - Experimental observations were conducted on the behavior of a high current vacuum arc on cylindrical electrodes in a radial magnetic field. The arc was sustained between the ends of two cylindrical Cu electrodes, 54-mm diam and 1.5-mm wall thickness separated by 5 mm. Arc current pulses with peak values in the range 4–15 kA with a half amplitude full width (HAFW) duration of 8 ms were investigated with radial magnetic fields proportional to the instantaneous current with proportionality constants of 4.0 and 6.5 × 10-6 T/A. The arcs were photographed simultaneously with a streak camera and by a high speed framing camera and the arc voltage was recorded on a digitizing transient recorder. The results indicated that the arc in this geometry, both with and without an imposed radial magnetic field, can be characterized by three development stages: a) arc formation, b) diffuse arc along the electrode perimeter, and c) simultaneous existence of several concentrated arc columns. When a radial magnetic field was imposed two changes were noted: 1) the arc appeared somewhat more distributed in that a greater number of constricted columns were observed, and they were distributed more evenly; and 2) the constricted columns moved in the J × B direction with velocities in the range 5–35 m/s.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0019269544&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TPS.1980.4317332
DO - 10.1109/TPS.1980.4317332
M3 - מאמר
AN - SCOPUS:0019269544
VL - 8
SP - 308
EP - 313
JO - IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
JF - IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
SN - 0093-3813
IS - 4
ER -