Impact of contact rotation on the vacuum arc root movement

This paper aims to investigate the dynamic characteristics of vacuum metal vapor arcs under rotating and traditional direct contact separation modes. Non-symmetrical pure copper electrodes with an anode radius of 7.5 mm and a cathode radius of 22.5 mm are employed in the experiments. The permanent magnet actuator provides an average opening speed of 1.0 m/s for cathode direct separation and 1–3 deg/ms for rotation. Results show that electrode rotation significantly influences the distribution and motion speed of the arc root on the cathode surface.