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.

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