J. Schein, K. D. Landes, G. K. Forster, M. Dzulko, J. Zierhut, Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen, Neubiberg, Germany
Recent advances in the development of new plasma torches rely on the use of multiple electrodes to improve plasma jet stability. Examples are the TRIPLEX, employing three cathodes and one anode or the DELTA, which uses three anodes with a single common cathode. In order to characterize the plasma jet produced by these plasma torches initial experiments have been performed using tomography in the visible range. Due to the improved stability of the plasma jet in the multi-electrode configuration it is possible to carry out tomography by means of a regular CCD camera, which is rotated around the plasma jet axis. The two-dimensional information obtained by the CCD camera is subsequently processed to produce an image of the three-dimensional emission distribution, which can be used to optimize powder feed parameters.
Summary: Recent advances in the development of new plasma torches rely on the use of multiple electrodes to improve plasma jet stability. Examples are the TRIPLEX, employing three cathodes and one anode or the DELTA, which uses three anodes with a single common cathode. In order to characterize the plasma jet produced by these plasma torches initial experiments have been performed using tomography in the visible range. Due to the improved stability of the plasma jet in the multi-electrode configuration it is possible to carry out tomography by means of a regular CCD camera, which is rotated around the plasma jet axis. The two-dimensional information obtained by the CCD camera is subsequently processed to produce an image of the three-dimensional emission distribution, which can be used to optimize powder feed parameters.
