Experimental Investigation on the Characteristics of Drawn Vacuum Arc in Initial Expanding Stage and in Forced Current-Zero Stage

Experiments on a drawn vacuum arc with forced current zero, which was formed by injection of a countercurrent with a frequency of 1 kHz, were conducted in a detach able vacuum chamber. The prospective peak main current was 3.5 kA. Arc characteristics were investigated with the aid of a high-speed digital camera with an exposure time of 2 μs. In this paper, the influence of axial magnetic field (AMF) distribution and anode material on the evolution of vacuum arc in the initial expanding stage is mainly investigated. Three types of electrodes were used in the experiments. One of them was simple electrodes with butt contact plates, and the other two types were specially designed electrodes generating a conventional bell-shaped AMF profile and a saddle-shaped AMF distribution, respectively. OFHC copper and WCu10 were used as anodes for the electrodes with bell-shaped AMF. The appearance of vacuum arc in the forced current-zero stage is also investigated.