A tool for evaluation of parameters of non-equilibrium near-cathode plasma layer in high-pressure arc plasmas
Evaluation of parameters of non-equilibrium layers at thermionic cathodes of arc discharges as functions of the local cathode surface temperature Tw and the near-cathode voltage drop U is an indispensable element of self-consistent modelling of high-pressure high-current arc discharges. The code NCPL performs such evaluation for a wide range of cathode surface temperatures, which makes possible multidimensional simulations not only of arc discharges on thermionic cathodes, but also of the ignition of high-current arcs on cold refractory cathodes. In particular, the code computes tables of the functions q(Tw,U), j(Tw,U), Te(Tw,U), and p_pl(Tw,U), which may be used to simulate the cathodic part of the arc and to produce boundary conditions for the 2T or LTE MHD equations describing the arc bulk.