2019, Baeva, M., Siewert, E., Uhrlandt, D.

We present results obtained by two non-equilibrium modelling approaches and experiments on low-intensity short-length arcs in argon at atmospheric pressure. The first one considers a quasi-neutral arc column combined with boundary conditions on the electrodes based on the energy balance in the space-charge sheaths. The second approach applies a unified description over the entire gap and solves the Poisson equation for the self-consistent electric field. The experiments provide the arc voltage.

2021, Baeva, Margarita, Methling, Ralf, Uhrlandt, Dirk

A previously developed unified model of a tungsten-inert gas (TIG) microarc has been extended to take into account the melting of the anode made of copper and the release of copper atoms due to its evaporation. The copper atoms enter the plasma to become excited and ionized. The presence of copper atoms and ions can strongly change the plasma parameters. The extended unified model further includes excited states of copper and collisional and radiative processes between them. Predictions of the parameters of the microarc plasma in the presence of copper species are presented and discussed.