Aluminum Erosion Due to Fault Arcing and Its Effects on Temperature and Pressure in a Closed Air Vessel

The effect of Al electrode erosion and its influence on plasma temperature and ambient pressure in a closed air vessel due to fault arcing are investigated theoretically with a magnetic-hydrodynamic model for fault arc developed with various energy transport mechanisms considered. The results show that the increased radiation due to Al vapor dominates the cooling of central plasma at low currents, while the mass transfer is more important at high currents. Inversely, the influence of increased electrical conductivity is relatively weak. The visualized simulation of energy transport suggests that the pressure rise is seriously affected by Al vapor due to the changeless of heat transport processes of fault arc. The chemical reaction involving Al vapor offers a more dominant positive contribution to pressure rise in contrast to mass transfer, whereas the negative contribution of increased radiation due to Al vapor to pressure rise is greater than the increased electrical conductivity.