Removing Oxide Layers From Carbon-Steel Tubular Surfaces Using Vacuum Arcs Driven by Transverse Magnetic Field

This paper analyzes how removing oxide layer on metal surface by vacuum arc could be a green substitute for the traditional acid-washing and mechanical cleaning technique widely used in the metallurgical industry, which is harmful to the environment. In this paper, the effects of vacuum arc on removing oxide layer on the surface of carbon-steel tubes, which were used as the cathode, is investigated experimentally. External coils are used to generate transverse magnetic field (TMF) driving cathode spots to rotate on tube surface. Experiments are conducted in a vacuum chamber with Ar as the protection gas under different TMF flux densities. Arc images are captured by a high-speed digital camera with an exposure time of 2 $\mu{\rm s}$ . The influence of transverse magnetic flux density on the characteristics of arc and descaling effect is mainly investigated.