Hybrid plasma modeling of the interaction between the vacuum arc jet and the hot metallic particle near the current zero

Abstract

In this paper, the interaction between the vacuum arc plasma jet and the hot metallic particle near current zero was investigated by numerical simulation. A vacuum arc plasma jet model was developed using the hybrid simulation method, in which electrons were considered as a massless fluid, while heavy particles such as atoms and ions were modeled as particles. In this model, the effect of the evaporation of metal atoms from the metallic particle was considered. Additionally, the Monte Carlo collision method was used to model inelastic collisions between electrons and heavy particles. The simulation results demonstrate that the metallic particle blocks the plasma jet, causing an asymmetric and nonuniform distribution in the plasma jet. Furthermore, some of the evaporated atoms from the hot metallic particle are converted into Cu1+ ions by ionization collisions with electrons. The drift velocity of Cu1+ ions coming from the ionization of metal vapor is much lower than that of highly energetic ions emitted from the cathode spot, making it difficult for them to be completely dissipated as soon as possible during the extinguishing phase. Moreover, the presence of a hot metallic particle causes an increase in the density of plasma in its surroundings, which increases the probability of arc reignition in the post-arc phase.