Response of a Wall-Stabilized Air Arc to Step and Sinusoidal Change in Current

Numerical calculations are performed with respect to transient characteristics of a 5-mm-diam wall-stabilized air arc at atmospheric pressure. The mass and energy equations are solved by means of a computer into which all the numerical data of the transport properties are memorized against gas temperature. The transient responses of temperature profile, arc conductance, and electric field strength to step and sinusoidal change in current are estimated. It is found that an arc time constant is given as a function of the axial temperature of arc column. The experimental results show good agreement with the calculated ones.