Plasma temperature decay due to polymer ablation by thermal plasma irradiation

Summary form only given. Polymer materials are well used for gas flow nozzles in gas circuit breakers (GCB) or for insulation cases in molded case circuit breakers (MCCB). In a circuit breaker, an arc plasma is formed between the electrode during current interruption process, and it often contacts the polymer materials. The contact of the arc plasma with the polymer materials inevitably causes polymer ablation. The polymer ablation creates arc jet, which produces a strong gas flow. Such effects markedly influence arc interruption processes. On the other hand, polymer ablation phenomena interest aerospace fields, where polymer ablation is used as an ablator to prevent a space-capsule from being heated by aerodynamic heating during reentry process. However, the interaction between polymer materials and an arc plasma/thermal plasma is very complicated. That interaction involves a large change in thermodynamic and transport properties of the plasmas and heat consumption due to polymer ablation.