Kinetic Numerical Simulation of the Cathode Attachment Zone of Constricted High-Current Vacuum Arcs

This paper is devoted to numerical simulation of the cathode attachment zone of constricted high-current vacuum arcs driven by a transverse magnetic field. With help of particle-in-cell and direct simulation Monte Carlo methods, a 1-D model of the attachment zone was developed, and the stationary-ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on plasma science 2013-02, Vol.41 (2), p.384-390
Main Authors: Shmelev, D. L., Delachaux, T., Schade, E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cathodes
Charged particles
Current density
Ions
Magnetic fields
Monte Carlo modeling
Monte Carlo simulation
Plasma physics
plasma sheath
Plasma sheaths
Plasma temperature
stationary cathode spot
vacuum arc
Vacuum arcs
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Summary:This paper is devoted to numerical simulation of the cathode attachment zone of constricted high-current vacuum arcs driven by a transverse magnetic field. With help of particle-in-cell and direct simulation Monte Carlo methods, a 1-D model of the attachment zone was developed, and the stationary-cathode-spot mode was investigated. The states of the charged particles and atoms in the Knudsen layer, the ionization layer, and the plasma sheath are determined in detail. The results support the adaptation of simplified cathode attachment models to be able to reduce the computational effort needed for self-consistent numerical simulations of magnetically driven constricted high-current vacuum arcs.
ISSN:0093-3813
1939-9375
DOI:10.1109/TPS.2012.2234766