Dynamic behaviour of alternating current arc discharge in a multi‐arc generator at atmospheric pressure

In this letter, a multi‐arc generator with three high‐voltage electrodes and a common grounded one was developed for the purpose of obtaining large area and steady arc plasma at atmospheric pressure. Three typical discharge states were found in the multi‐arc generator: independent movement of three arc columns, confluence of two arc columns, and confluence of three arc columns. The three discharge states cyclically occur on the evolution of the arc discharge and their duration is influenced by the power dissipation and plasma working gas flow rate. With an increase of discharge power and a decrease of the gas flow rate, the duration of multiple arc confluence increases, which contributes to the suppression of the fluctuation amplitude of each arc. Frequency domain analysis of the arc voltage envelope shows that the frequency of arc fluctuation increases in the multi‐arc mode in the multi‐arc generator compared to that in the single arc mode.