Gliding arc is a mostly used non-equilibrium plasma generation method whose characteristic is affected by the back-breakdown phenomenon. Mode transition induced by back-breakdown of the gliding arc is studied in this work and effects of gas flow rate, applied voltage, electrode parameters on mode transition were studied. Experimental results show that there are two typical modes during the development of the gliding arc. Mode A comprises periodicitical development of the arc from the minimum gap breakdown to the longest extinguishment, while the arc in mode B continues to produce a back-breakdown at the ends of the electrodes. As the flow rate descends, the gliding arc gradually changes from mode A to B. It is the decrease of the arc velocity caused by lower flow rate leads to the occurrence of back-breakdown, which generates mode B. Smaller electrode opening angle, shorter length and wider minimum gap reduce the gliding speed, so that arc is more likely to enter mode B. As the applied voltage is increased, enhancing of the electric field strength on the breakdown path of the back-breakdown and thickening of the arc's diameter allow the gliding arc to enter mode B at a higher arc speed.

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滑弧回击引起的模式转变及其影响因素

滑弧是最常用的非平衡等离子体产生方法，其特性受反击穿现象的影响。本文研究了滑行弧回击引起的模式转变，研究了气体流量，施加电压，电极参数对模式转变的影响。实验结果表明，在滑弧发展过程中存在两种典型的模式。模式A包括电弧的周期性发展，从最小的间隙击穿到最长的熄灭，而模式B的电弧继续在电极的端部产生反向击穿。随着流量的降低，滑动电弧从模式A逐渐变为模式B。由于流量较低而引起的电弧速度降低导致回击的发生，从而产生了模式B。