Optoelectronic Measurement of Partial Arcs on a Contaminated Surface

In this paper, characteristics of a partial arc on a contaminated surface containing NaCl, measured by optoelectronic techniques, are described. Streak photographs using a solid state image sensing device clarified propagation characteristics and temporal variations of the diameter of a partial arc. A spectroscopic measurement revealed that most of the light emitted from the arc consists of the Na spectrum, and the temperature of the arc column is lower than that of a free-air arc. The calculated results on physical characteristics of the partial arc are discussed together with the experimental results.