Experimental Investigation of a Magnetically Balanced Arc in a Transverse Argon Flow

Abstract

An experimental study of an electric arc in crossed convective and magnetic fields has been made. An electric arc was established across a rectangular test section through which argon gas was flowing at approximately atmospheric pressure and velocities up to 100 m/sec. Magnetic field strengths up to 3 webers/m2 , oriented so that the Lorentz force opposed the convective force on the arc, were applied perpendicular to both the arc and the direction of the argon gas flow. The test apparatus and the procedure used to obtain the experimental relationship between the velocity of the argon flow and the balancing magnetic field are described. An analysis which assumed the magnetically balanced arc to be a gaseous cylinder positioned between the electrodes and with a diameter varying directly as the arc current satisfactorily explained the observed dependence of the balancing magnetic field on the gas velocity.