Calculation of spark plasma parameters and spectral line intensities with electrodes made of high-entropy AlCrFeCoNiCu alloy

Abstract

The influence of the evaporation rate of electrode from high-entropy alloy AlCrFeCoNiCu and the discharge power on the parameters of a spark plasma in air ― temperature, electronic concentration, effective ionization potential, velocity of propagation of metal vapor flares, pressure, is calculated by numerical methods. A mathematical model and a computer program have developed to obtain a self-consistent solution of a system of nonlinear equations that describes the composition of plasma under local thermodynamic equilibrium. The temperature is calculated from the equation of the energy balance of the electrons, taking into account the dependence of the cross sections of inelastic collisions on the temperature, the equation of the particle transfer on the discharge axis and the pressure in the current channel, taking into account the pinch effect. It is found that the dependences of the particle concentration and the intensity of the spectral lines on the discharge power and the evaporation rate of the electrode have different character for the particles and the lines they emit. The results of the calculations are in good agreement with the measurements of temperature and electronic concentration. The model can be used for the purposes of emission spectral analysis of new alloys, for spectral diagnostics of electrode erosion.