ANALYSIS ON THE MECHANISM OF ARC DISCHARGE WITH CATHODE SPOTS

The characteristics of cathode spots arc were introduced in this paper.Considering the theoretical models and the new experimental results,the mechanism and process of the cathode arc discharge were analyzed systematically:electron explosive emission model,thermionic field emission theory,Mackeown formula in collisionless layer at cathode,and spots motion model in a magnetic field.In the end,the mechanism of the pressure effects on the spots motion and the anode spots characteristics were discussed.