Resumen
To investigate the microphysics mechanism and the factors that influence arc development along a polluted surface, the arc was considered as a plasma fluid. Based on the image method and the collision ionization theory, the electric field of the arc needed to maintain movement with different degrees of pollution was calculated. According to the force of the charged particle in an arc plasma stressed under an electric field, a calculation model of arc velocity, which is dependent on the electric field of the arc head that incorporated the effects of airflow around the electrode and air resistance is presented. An experiment was carried out to measure the arc velocity, which was then compared with the calculated value. The results of the experiment indicated that the lighter the pollution is, the larger the electric field of the arc head and arc velocity is; when the pollution is heavy, the effect of thermal buoyancy that hinders arc movement increases, which greatly reduces the arc velocity.