1. Observation of gliding arc surface treatment
- Author
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Andreas Ehn, Yukihiro Kusano, Mirko Salewski, Frank Leipold, Marcus Aldén, Alexander Bardenshtein, Niels Krebs, Zhongshan Li, and Jiajian Zhu
- Subjects
Quantitative Biology::Biomolecules ,Materials science ,Atmospheric pressure ,Airflow ,Analytical chemistry ,Surfaces and Interfaces ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,law.invention ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Arc (geometry) ,Contact angle ,Plasma arc welding ,Boundary layer ,law ,Materials Chemistry ,Surface modification ,Composite material ,Alternating current ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics - Abstract
An alternating current (AC) gliding arc can be conveniently operated at atmospheric pressure and efficiently elongated into the ambient air by an air flow and thus is useful for surface modification. A high speed camera was used to capture dynamics of the AC gliding arc in the presence of polymer surfaces. A gap was observed between the polymer surface and the luminous region of the plasma column, indicating the existence of a gas boundary layer. The thickness of the gas boundary layer is smaller at higher gas flow-rates or with ultrasonic irradiation to the AC gliding arc and the polymer surface. Water contact angle measurements indicate that the treatment uniformity improves significantly when the AC gliding arc is tilted to the polymer surface. Thickness reduction of the gas boundary layer, explaining the improvement of surface treatment, by the ultrasonic irradiation was directly observed for the first time.
- Published
- 2014