A method for simulating magnetically driven arcs in a gas

✍ Scribed by Katsuhiko Horinouchi; Yasushi Nakayama; Haruhiko Koyama; Hiroyuki Sasao

• Book ID: 101292749
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 305 KB
• Volume: 123
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0424-7760
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6416(19980430)123:2<24::aid-eej4>3.0.co;2-u

✦ Synopsis

This paper presents a new, practical method for simulating the behavior and shape of arcs driven by magnetic force in a gas. This simulation method is very useful in designing electric devices that use the magnetically driven arc technique. First, we describe the arc model. In this model, the arc is assumed to be a chain of small rigid cylindrical current elements. Each element receives a Lorentz force from the magnetic field and a fluid drag force from the surrounding gas. Owing to the similarity between an arc and a rigid column, the drag force of the arc is expressed by that of the column. The element moves with a velocity determined by these forces. Consequently, we can obtain the behavior and the shape of the whole arc. Finally, we offer a simulation example. We have obtained an arc that is given a spiral shape by the magnetic field. This simulation result illustrates observations of the arc.