Study of electrode spots from a spark discharge with the help of interference microscope
In order to study the nature and mechanism of erosion of electrodes during a spark discharge, experiments were conducted for the study of discharge spots on the electrode surface after single oscillatory discharges in an air atmosphere at normal pressure. The spots were studied using the NewView 5010 interference surface analyzer. The relief of the discharge spot is a system of craters separated by shafts. The processing of the microscope data made it possible to determine the shape and dimensions of craters and shafts, the statistical characteristics of their ensemble, and their relation to discharge parameters. It is established that the characteristics of craters: volume, area, diameter, depth - have a fairly wide distribution, close to the log-normal or normal. Median values of the characteristics slightly increase with increasing stored energy. The density of the location of the craters and the fraction of the area occupied by the craters, in the first approximation, do not depend on the discharge parameters. The results are discussed.