Estimation of dispenser cathode surface temperature of a practical potted heater cathode assembly

The heat transfer through the porous and/or infiltrated potted heater-cathode structure is simulated by a numerical model. The model includes heat conduction through a porous potting having isometric pore shape and uniform size (310 mu m in alumina potting and 20 mu m in tungsten cathode pellet), imperfect interface heat transfer effect and radiative boundaries. In addition to the transient study, a steady-state analysis, using the numerical model has also been done for a commercial Spectra-Mat cathode. The predicted results have been compared with the experimental measurements and are found to be in good agreement.<
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