A two-temperature modeling of TIG arc plasma

A two-dimensional axisymmetric two-temperature mathematical model for TIG arc plasma is established based on the conservation equations of mass, momentum, electron energy and heavy particle energy, as well as Maxwell equations. The thermodynamic and transport parameters of the plasma are taken as a function of electron temperature and heavy particle temperature. The distributions of electron temperature, heavy particle temperature, pressure and velocity for TIG arc are obtained by FLUENT software. The results show that the arc plasma presents a bell shape. Temperatures of electron and heavy particle in the arc plasma show a near-LTE behavior in the core region. While a large deviation from LTE is observed in the near-electrode regions and outside the fringe of arc column, the plasma has a strong non-equilibrium characteristic.