Limiting Current of a Discharge from a Tubular-Cathode DC Arc Plasmatron

Resumo

The published data indicating that the current toward the cathode insert of a plasmatron has a limiting value and that this limiting value is correlated with the diameter of the insert are discussed. It is assumed that this correlation is associated with the achievement of a critical value by the surface temperature of the insert at which the material evaporation rate grows sharply.