Thermal Plasma of Electric Arc Discharge Between Composite Cu-Cr Electrsodes: Optical Emission and Electrode Surface Interaction
This work deals with investigations of thermal plasma of electric arc discharge between sintered composite Cu-Cr electrodes, which can be used in electrical contacts of vacuum circuit breakers. Breaking arcs between composite Cu-Cr as well as single-component copper electrodes were used to study the electrical properties, plasma optical emission and electrodes surface modification behavior. In particular, the temporal evolution of plasma emission spectra of electric breaking arcs in air atmosphere was investigated by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDXS) were applied to analyze the cross-section of working layer of electrodes surface modified by the heat flux from the discharge.