Physics of cathode spots in vacuum arcs

Understanding of mechanisms of operation of cathodic spots of vacuum arc discharges, including the role of explosive electron emission, is a challenging topic of high scientific interest and importance for applications. We conducted this research on the suggestion of, and in collaboration with, colleagues from Siemens Corporate Technology (Erlangen, Germany), one of the aims being application of results to contacts of high-power vacuum circuit breakers.
Our main goal was to develop a comprehensive numerical model of cathodic spots of vacuum arcs, accounting for all the potentially relevant mechanisms: the bombardment of the cathode surface by ions coming from a pre-existing plasma cloud; vaporization of the cathode material in the spot, its ionization and the interaction of the produced plasma with the cathode; the Joule heat generation in the cathode body; melting of the cathode material and motion of the melt under the effect of the plasma pressure and the Lorentz force and related phenomena.
All phases of life of a spot have been investigated, from ignition to extinction. The latter is accompanied by emission of a droplet. No explosions have been observed, which disproves the reigning paradigm of ectons (explosive electron emission centers). The modeling results conform to experimental data on the net and ion erosion of copper cathodes of vacuum arcs. One of the papers on this topic, which has been published in Journal of Applied Physics, was selected by the Editors for promotion through the American Institute of Physics Publishing's Scilights project.
In the future, the developed model will be used for investigation of unipolar arcs in fusion devices and of cathode erosion in other types of gas discharges.

GO TO IPFN
CultHera Project

The CultHera project focuses on the importance of historical and cultural heritage for each country and for the entire European continent and beyond.. This heritage can be a link between all Europeans, and enable the development of a sense of belonging to a European identity, despite the countless idiosyncrasies that this same heritage can entail. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to pro(...)

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STATUS

Steering Transition and Advancement of Tertiary Underrepresented Students
STATUS - Steering Transition and Advancement of Tertiary Underrepresented Students é um projeto transnacional, aprovado no âmbito do programa ERASMUS+ KA220-HED (Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education) & TEMPUS (R(...)

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Belong

Better Education through Long-term Investment into Inclusiveness and Student & Staff Wellbeing (BELONG)

The purpose of the BELONG project is to enhance the sense of belonging of staff members and students in order to improve the quality of learning, teaching and research at the project partner institutions. This includes addressing the issues of student and staff wellbeing and men(...)

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Social Education on the Move - SoMovED

O projeto SoMovEd procura introduzir ideias inovadoras no ensino universitário particularmente com o desenvolvimento de atividades “em movimento”, ou seja, atividades fora da sala-de-aula. Neste sentido o projeto procura desenvolver, implementar e disseminar inovação através da introdução do “MOBILE SOCIAL EDUCATION (MmsED) MODEL” no ensino superior. A sua caraterística principal é organizar os process(...)

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Study of Spondylarthritis in the Archipelagos of Macaronesia

Genetics of the HLA System and its contribution to the clinical and anthropological research of the population being studied (MAC/2.3/A6), developed between 2002 and 2005, financed by the community Initiative interreg III B Madeira-Açores-Canarias

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Project Ensec

UMa participates in ENSEC, which is a European Union funded project, running between Nov. 2017 to May 2020, and it is focused on the development of a European Study Program for an International Master’s Degree for the Environmental Security Sector. This project has two UMa lecturers and a Technician participating in the project who are dedicated to the development of guidelines for users of the learnin(...)

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APOGEO MAC

APOGEO MAC - Agricultura de precisão para o melhoramento da produção de vinho na Macaronésia. Programa: PCT-MAC 2014-2020.

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PRODERAM 2020

Caracterização e conservação dos principais recursos genéticos vegetais tradicionais e estratégicos da RAM. Programa: PRODERAM 2020.

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IMPACT III

IMPACT III: – Impacto da Tecnologia na Qualidade do Vinho Madeira. Programa: PROCiência2020.

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AROMA

AROMA: Novos designs de sensores em fibra ótica para a deteção de compostos de AROMA. Programa: CENTRO 2020 + FCT

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AHIDAGRO

Contribución al ahorro hídrico en cultivos estratégicos para el sector primario de Canarias y Madeira mediante la aplicación de productos y extractos naturales bioactivos con propiedades osmoprotectoras. Programa: MAC 2014-2020.

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CASBio

CASBio - Avaliação e monitorização da Agrobiodiversidade e da Sustentabilidade dos Agrossistemas nos novos cenários climáticos. Programa: Operativo Madeira 14-20 da RAM.

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Gynecia: Rodrigo de Castro Lusitano e a tradição médica antiga sobre ginecolo

A docente da Faculdade de Artes e Humanidades da Universidade da Madeira (FAH-UMa), Cristina Santos Pinheiro, obteve aprovação para financiamento da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia como Investigadora Responsável do Projeto “Gynecia: Rodrigo de Castro Lusitano e a tradição médica antiga sobre ginecologia e embriologia”, no valor de cerca de 202.000€.

O financiamento, por três anos, r(...)

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Modelling anode spots in a DC glow discharge

Beautiful patterns on anodes of DC glow discharges have been observed for over a century. In addition to being of significant theoretical interest by themselves, self-organized patterns on liquid anodes of atmospheric pressure glow microdischarges reveal a non-trivial cancer-inhibiting capability.
Our goal was to compute self-organized patterns of spots on a flat metallic anode of a glow dischar(...)

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Bifurcations in the theory of current transfer to cathodes of dc discharges..

Bifurcations in the theory of current transfer to cathodes of dc discharges and transitions between different modes
Concentration of electrical current onto the surface of electrodes of gas discharges in well-defined regions, or current spots, is often the rule rather than the exception. These spots occur on otherwise uniform electrode surfaces, a regime where one might expect a uniform di(...)

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Modelling of plasma-electrode interaction in high-pressure arc discharge

Efficient methods of modelling of electric arcs in high-pressure environment are of high importance for many technical devices, and the interaction of arc plasmas with electrodes, in the first place, the cathode, is currently a bottleneck. This explains a surge of interest in plasma-electrode interaction inhigh-pressure arc discharges in the scientific community that has occurred over the past couple o(...)

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GENHYMAPE

Genes and Hypertension in Madeira, financed by “Intervir+ (European Regional Development Fund – FEDER)”, aiming at detecting an association between gene polymorphism (hypertension candidates) and the existence of hypertension in Madeira.

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GENEMACOR

Genes in Madeira and Coronary Disease, financed by “Intervir+ (European Regional Development Fund – FEDER)”, aiming to investigate about the genetic cause (polymorphism) of the coronary disease in Madeira Island.

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Diversity of the HLA System in the Portuguese Population

Diversity of the HLA System in the Portuguese Population, developed between 1999 and 2003, financed by the European Social Fund through the multifund Operational Programme of Madeira.

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Genetic Diversity of the HLA System in African Population

Genetic Diversity of the HLA System in African Population (POCTI/BIA-BCM/60440/2004), under development since January 2005 and financed by FCT.

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Enhancing Mathematics Learning @Free State (EML@FS)

Enhancing Mathematics Learning @Free State (EML@FS) is a training programme for math teachers. Its main goal is to contribute to the improvement of students’ learning and to the development of their math skills, destined to 4th grade teachers of Free Stare Procinve – South Africa.
For this purpose, the following objectives have been set: to reinforce the mathematic and didactic knowledge of tea(...)

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Production of educational Socio-technological artefacts and training of teachers in Networking

The project “Production of educational Socio-technological artefacts and training of teachers in Networking” (“Produção De Artefatos Educacionais Sociotecnológicos E Formação De Professores Em Rede”) is an opportunity for a partnership between the CIE-UMa and the University of the state of Bahia – UNEB (BR). Its main goal is to understand how and in what measure the collaborative production of educatio(...)

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ANAM Project – Study of the Passenger’s Profile

ANAM Project, 2011-2014 – Study of the Passenger’s Profile, by António Almeida

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Madeira Math Encounters XLVI

Event dedicated to the analysis in infinite dimension and applications, specifically fractional Differential equations and Mittag-Leffler analysis.

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GAUMa colaboration in the new Encyclopedic Dictionary of Madeira

Researchers at GAUMa are responsible for 5 new entrees in the new Encyclopedic Dictionary of Madeira: 1) Astronomy; 2) International Year of Astronomy 2009; 3) Astronomy Group of the University of Madeira; 4) William Kingdom Clifford; 5) William Thomson (Lord Kelvin).

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Astronomy Week

Annual event - "Astronomy Week". This is an event which has been held since 2001 with the aim of, during a week, disclosing and promoting Astronomy alongside to the different schools in Madeira as well as the public in general.

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Primordial Black Holes

Study of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs): PBHs may have formed during the early stage of the Universe. At GAUMa we study theoretically its creation mechanisms, distribution throughout the Universe and eventual detection. PBHs allow us to track the primordial Universe and are pointed as the sources of the recently detected gravitational waves.

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Astronomical Observatory

Setup of the Astronomical Observatory on the Island of Madeira with the potential of using it for research work in collaboration with other institutions. It is also intended that the observatory be used for observation sessions by students from different schools in the island as well as by the public in general, and that it can work as a promotion vector for scientific tourism.

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Entrepreneurial Figures of Madeira

Subjects such as individual talent and collective intelligence, originality and cooperation will be worked on. In this context, research is justified because it is seen as a key strategy in the process of developing creative people and sustainable organizations.

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Baltazar Dias Theater Collection

A collection made in collaboration with the Baltazar Dias Theater, in the framework of the celebrations marking the 130th anniversary of its opening. The collection aims to disseminate the unpublished and forgotten works of the dramatic genre of Madeiran authors.

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Collection Mais Madeira - Juvenile and children's Encyclopedic Dictionary

Project in collaboration with the Municipality of Funchal that intends to inform children and adolescents the results of the investigations carried out within the ambit of the DEM. Reviewing the knowledge about the archipelago, almost 600 years since its discovery, represents opening doors for the future. Consisting of ten volumes with themes from economics to urbanism, from literature to history, the (...)

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Conferences at the Theater, Madeira from A to Z

A project in collaboration with the Municipal Theater Baltazar Dias and the Municipality of Funchal, that aims to disseminate to the general public the knowledge produced during the elaboration of the DEM. The conferences are of multidisciplinary nature, contemplating several monthly events. This event was classified by Jornal da Madeira, as the "cultural event of the year 2017", and will continue, in (...)

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Encyclopedic Dictionary of Madeira

Integrated in the “Aprender Madeira” Project, the Encyclopedic Dictionary proposes to update, synthesize, expand, understand and disseminate, in a contemporary perspective and with scientific rigor and pedagogical sense, knowledge accumulated about Madeira, seeking to join in the wake of those who, over the past centuries, have researched and written about Madeira.

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Getting to know Madeira

The online and printed edition of authors and other relevant works for the knowledge of the literary heritage of Madeira and for a renewed vision of Portuguese literature as a whole. The main objective is to provide bibliographies, data and primary sources for students, professors and researchers in the area, as well as to disseminate an important collection for literature and culture, for the history (...)

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