Cathode erosion in a high-pressure high-current arc: calculations for tungsten cathode in a free-burning argon arc

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Abstract
The motion of an evaporated atom of the cathode material in a near-cathode plasma is considered. It is shown that the evaporated atom is ionized almost instantly. The created ion, under the influence of a strong electric field existing in the cathode proximity, has a high probability of returning to the cathode. A small fraction of evaporated atoms are able to diffuse away from the cathode to the region where they are involved in plasma flow and lose their chance to return to the cathode. The fraction of the total evaporated atoms, which do not return to the cathode, the escape factor, determines the net erosion rate. In order to calculate this factor, the distributions of the plasma parameters in the near-cathode plasma were considered. Calculations showed that the escape factor is on the order of a few per cent. Using experimental data on the plasma and cathode temperatures, we calculated the net erosion rate for a free-burning 200 A argon arc with a thoriated tungsten cathode. The calculated erosion rate is close to 1 µg s−1, which is in agreement with available experimental data.

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