Simulation of electron beam from two strip electron guns and control of power density by rotation of gun

Electron beam is preferably used for large scale evaporation of refractory materials. Material evaporation from a long and narrow source providing a well collimated wedge shaped atomic beam has applications in isotopic purification of metals relevant to nuclear industry. The electron beam from an electron gun with strip type filament provides a linear heating source. However, the high power density of the electron beam can lead to turbulence of the melt pool and undesirable splashing of molten metal. For obtaining quiet surface evaporation, the linear electron beam is generally scanned along its length. To further reduce the power density to maintain quiet evaporation the width of the vapour source can be controlled by rotating the electron gun on its plane, thereby scanning an inclined beam over the molten pool. The rotation of gun has further advantages. When multiple strip type electron guns are used for scaling up evaporation length, a dark zone appears between two beams due to physical separation of adjacent guns. This dark zone can be reduced by rotating the gun and thereby bringing two adjacent beams closer. The paper presented here provides the simulation results of the electron beam trajectory and incident power density originating from two strip electron guns by using in-house developed code. The effect of electron gun rotation on the electron beam trajectory and power density is studied. The simulation result is experimentally verified with the image of molten pool and heat affected zone taken after experiment. This technique can be gainfully utilized in controlling the time averaged power density of the electron beam and obtaining quiet evaporation from the metal molten pool.