Title :
Cathode spot at an ecton process
Author :
Mesyats, Gennady A.
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Electrophys., Acad. of Sci., Ekaterinburg, Russia
Abstract :
The present paper offers a new mechanism of vacuum arc cathode spot operation, based upon the ecton processes. An ecton is produced through the explosion at the tip of a liquid metal stream, when the stream is interacting with plasma. The time of ecton operation is supposed to be limited by the thermal conductivity of the liquid metal. For copper electrodes theoretical correlations have been obtained for the specific mass removal, ion erosion characteristics, current density, and diameters of craters. The results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental data available.
Keywords :
cathodes; electron emission; vacuum arcs; Cu; cathode spot; copper electrode; craters; current density; ecton process; explosive electron emission; ion erosion; liquid metal stream; mass removal; plasma; thermal conductivity; vacuum arc; Cathodes; Current density; Electron emission; Explosions; Explosives; Heating; Plasma density; Thermal conductivity; Threshold current; Vacuum arcs;
Conference_Titel :
Electrical Contacts, 1995., Proceedings of the Forty-First IEEE Holm Conference on
Conference_Location :
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2728-4
DOI :
10.1109/HOLM.1995.482878
