In this paper, a novel nonthermal multi‐arc plasma generator with three pairs of electrodes is presented to obtain large‐volume plasma. The discharge behaviour of multi‐arc is investigated through high‐speed photography. Statistical process of the photographic images of arc discharge is used for analysis of the effect of electrode configuration on arc spatial distribution and fluctuation of plasma flow. Besides, the gas temperature is diagnosed by diatomic molecular OH fitting method. Results show that the electrode configuration has vital effect on the spatial distribution of plasma in discharge area. A relatively stable region with high luminance is obtained in the centre of the discharge area by adjusting the electrode arrangements, in which the plasma gas temperature in swirl flow field is higher than that in straight flow field in multi‐arc generator. Furthermore, the fluctuation of plasma flow weakens in multi‐arc generator with electrode configurations capable of producing swirl flow field.

中文翻译：

---

三对电极多弧等离子体发生器中电极配置对等离子体空间分布和气体温度的影响

在本文中，提出了一种新颖的具有三对电极的非热多弧等离子体发生器，以获取大体积等离子体。通过高速摄影研究了多弧放电特性。电弧放电摄影图像的统计过程用于分析电极配置对电弧空间分布和等离子流波动的影响。此外，气体温度通过双原子分子OH拟合法诊断。结果表明，电极配置对放电区域中等离子体的空间分布具有至关重要的影响。通过调整电极排列，可在放电区域的中心获得亮度较高的相对稳定区域，在多弧发生器中，旋流场中的等离子气体温度高于直流场中的等离子气体温度。此外，在具有能够产生旋流场的电极配置的多弧发生器中，等离子体流的波动减弱。