Abstract:
A two-dimensional mathematical model of a short high-current vacuum-arc discharge is developed, according to which magnetized electrons move in a hydrodynamic regime and fast cathode ions propagate in a free flight regime in a two-dimensional electric field. The proposed model takes into account the distribution of ions with respect to their escape angles from the cathode plasma boundary. A method for calculation of the plasma density distribution in the interelectrode gap is proposed. Two-dimensional distributions of the plasma density, electric field, and discharge current density in an external magnetic field are calculated. It is shown that ion trajectories exhibit mutual intersections, partly return to the cathode, and partly rotate in the oppositely oriented electric field at the side boundary of plasma. A decrease in the applied magnetic field intensity leads to a decrease in the number of ion trajectories reaching the anode (ion starvation), which can result in the violation of a stationary current transfer.
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