COEFFICIENT OF ION EROSION OF THE VACUUM ARC OF METALS AND ALLOYS
G. V. Markov UDC 537.523 Consideration has been given to the basic processes in the cathode spot of the vacuum arc of metals and alloys. Based on the analysis of a simplified equation of heat balance of the vacuum-arc cathode spot, formulas for evaluating the values of the coefficient of ion erosion of metals and alloys have been obtained. The calculated and experimentally measured values of the coefficients of ion erosion of certain metals have been compared and their satisfactory agreement has been shown. Physical-Technical Institute, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 75, No. 5, pp. 174-176, September-October, 2002. Original article submitted March 6, 2002. JEPTER7492020025 JEPTER749205