Arc erosion of aluminum and titanium in presence of high currents

The purpose of this study is to develop scaling relations for material erosion with respect to electrical current for aluminum and titanium. Experiments were performed with a source capable of generating short pulses (approx. 100 μs long) with up to 20kA currents across a small gap between sample pieces. The amount of damage on the experimental coupons was significant and visible even with a low magnification microscope. Analysis of the samples was performed using a confocal microscope to generate a 3D profile of the arcing damage. The total volume of displaced material and the surface area of the damage were calculated from these profiles. Experimental data shows a nearly linear relationship between the amount of displaced material and electric current, which is consistent with similar studies performed at much lower currents. The primary purpose of this study was to generate data for comparison of erosion models under development. The data obtained will be used to compare the experimental observations with the models used to describe the high-current arc phenomena.