Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025

Method for Recording Broadband High Resolution Emission Spectra of Laboratory Lightning Arcs
Published on: August 27, 2019
Experimental study on the full cycle evolution of high-intensity atmospheric dc arc discharge from breakdown to
Ya-Hao Hu1,2, Su-Rong Sun1, Xian Meng2
1School of Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
In this study, the spatiotemporal evolution of full cycle of high-intensity dc argon arc discharge at atmospheric pressure is investigated by using a transferred arc device, which is easy to be directly observed in the experiment. Combining the voltage and current waveforms with high-speed images, the full cycle evolution process of high-intensity atmospheric dc arc can be divided into five different stages: breakdown pulse stage, cathode heating stage, current climbing stage, stable arc discharge stage, and finally arc extinguishing stage. The characteristics of each different stage are analyzed in detail through the electrical properties, high-speed pictures, and spectroscopic measurements. The results show that the strong luminescence region develops from the vicinity of cathode and anode to the middle in the breakdown pulse stage, which is explained from the spatiotemporal evolution of distributions of excited argon atom and ions. The development velocity of emission intensity of argon ions is mainly determined by the dominant stepwise ionization process. Then the cathode heating stage appears with many bright and nonuniformly distributed light spots on the cathode surface, and the electron emission mechanism of cathode gradually changes to the thermionic emission as the surface temperature rises. With the increase of arc current, the discharge channel significantly expands, then becomes stable due to the increment of the Lorentz force. The characteristics of arc extinguishing stage are clarified in terms of the decay of charged particles density.
More Related Videos
08:42How to Ignite an Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma Torch without Any Additional Igniters
Published on: April 16, 2015
09:40Measurement and Analysis of Atomic Hydrogen and Diatomic Molecular AlO, C2, CN, and TiO Spectra Following Laser-induced Optical Breakdown
Published on: February 14, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Overview
Three-Phase Short Circuit—Unloaded Synchronous Machine
This behavior occurs due to the magnetic flux produced by the short-circuit armature currents. Initially, these currents follow high-reluctance paths but eventually shift to...
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab
Van de Graaff Generator
Van de Graaff uses both smooth and pointed surfaces, conductors, and insulators to generate large static charges and, hence, large voltages. A substantial excess charge can be deposited on the sphere because it moves...