Study of operating conditions of plasma spray torch using low electric power levels

The scaling-down of plasma spray torches is connected with problems of anodic arc attachment fluctuations. It Is known that thermally constricted arcs in molecular gases generate unstable anodic arc roots in the nozzle of the torch. Moreover, using a usual plasma spray torch at reduced electrical power level in an argon-hydrogen gas mixture at a pressure of about 120 mbar, the arc is strongly influenced by hydrodynamic forces. Especially, its long time behavior shown by the arc voltage course is very variable and nonreproducible. It is the purpose of this work to optimize the nozzle geometry and the gas flow rate in order to obtain stabilized operating conditions of the plasma torch for an arc current of 100 A. It will be shown that the design of the entrance region and the diameter of the anodic nozzle influence the are column motion as well as the level and the frequency of the voltage fluctuations. With a particularly modified anodic nozzle, stable and reproducible operating conditions of the plasma torch, which is used to synthesize diamond layers, will be obtained