Stability Criterion for the Bluff‐Body Stabilized Electrodeless Arc

It has been found that the electrodeless arc can be stabilized in the presence of flow by placing a bluff body in the entrance stream. A two‐stream boundary layer analysis, analogous to that used in combustion theory, is used to calculate an attachment length, the distance required to heat the entering stream to the arc temperature. The criterion for stability is that the attachment length is less than the length of the recirculation cell formed in the wake of the bluff body. Calculations are made for conditions typical of an atmospheric pressure arc in argon. It is found that the attachment length is approximately a linear function of the ratio of flow velocity to power density.