Development of a Numerical Model on Metallic Vapor Behavior in Vacuum Arc Based on Moving Particle Semi-implicit Method and Finite Volume Method

A unique numerical model has been developed to simulate dynamic behavior of metallic vapor from the electrode in vacuum arcs using the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method combined with finite volume method (FVM). The MPS method is one particle method for fluid dynamics which can treat free boundary. The developed model can calculate the dynamics and the heavy particle temperature, the pressure and the ionization degree of the metallic vapor in MPS method, while the electron temperature, electro-magnetic fields were solved by FVM, with a short computation time. This developed method can be used for studying influences of some parameters on dynamics of vapor and electrons.