This paper discusses the impact of a trade credit policy on alleviating conflicts arising on a dual-channel supply chain that includes one manufacturer and one value-added retailer. We use the Stackelberg game to model the problem and characterize optimal pricing strategies for each supply chain partner, examining different circumstances in terms of retail price and trade credit contracts. When a consistent price strategy is applied in the dual channels under conditions of an exogenous credit period, trade credit can help both partners to achieve win-win situations in the following circumstances: (1) when the retail channel's market share is small and the retailer's interest rate is high; or (2) when the retail channel's market share is large and the retailer's interest rate is lower than the manufacturer's. The study also concludes that when an inconsistent price strategy is applied, a trade credit contract can alleviate channel conflicts when the retailer's interest rate is higher than the manufacturer's. Otherwise, the partners may terminate cooperation. However, when the manufacturer has the power to determine and set the credit period, trade credit cannot alleviate channel conflicts under consistent price and inconsistent price scenarios.

Thomson scattering was applied to measure the electron density and temperature in laser-induced SF6 plasmas at various pressures (0.2–2 atm). The plasma was induced by the Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, 200 mJ, and 7 ns) focused into a chamber filled with SF6. A second harmonic Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, 50 mJ, and 6 ns) was used to probe the distributions of electron density and temperature. The images after breakdown indicate that higher pressure accelerates the plasma evolution and enhances the asymmetry of the plasma structure. Additionally, different from toroidal structures in other gases, a special vortex structure appeared in SF6. The electron density around the axis at 0.2 atm decreases from 1.66×1023 m−3 at 2 μs to 4.50×1022 m−3 at 6 μs, and meanwhile, the electron temperature drops from 22 050 K to 15 600 K. At 2 atm, from 2 μs to 6 μs, the electron density decreases from 3.00×1023 m−3 to 5.23×1022 m−3 and the temperature drops from 44 000 K to 14 800 K. The time exponent obtained by fitting the maximum electron density using the power law decreases from −1.206 to −1.669 in the pressure range from 0.2 atm to 2 atm, indicating that the pressure increases the decaying rate of electron density. From 0.4 atm to 2 atm, the time exponent of the decay of electron temperature decreases from −0.499 to −0.926. The comparisons among laser-induced plasmas in various gases show that the decaying rates of both electron density and temperature in SF6 are superior to air and argon.

An experimental method for the air plasma composition based on two-color Mach–Zehnder interferometry was established. By applying two laser beams with different wavelengths, the distributions of the temperature and nonequilibrium parameter were obtained. In the arc center, the energy exchange between the electrons and heavy particles is sufficient enough to make the plasma reach the equilibrium state. In this case, by comparing the electron density and neutral particle density derived from the interferograms, the calculated species compositions of air plasma under local thermal equilibrium were validated. Additionally, the distribution of the nonequilibrium parameter indicates that departure from the equilibrium occurs at the edge of the plasma and that the nonequilibrium area gradually expands during the arc decay phase. This trend is in good agreement with the two-temperature arc simulation, indicating the validity of the two-temperature arc model in many previous works.

In this paper, the radial temperature distributions of the blown CO 2 arcs in a model gas circuit breaker were investigated by optical emission spectroscopy methods. The CO 2 flows with different flow rates (50, 100 and 150 l min −1 ) were created to axially blow the arcs burning in a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) nozzle. Discharges with different arc currents (200 and 400 A) were conducted in the experiment. The absolute intensity method was applied for a carbon ionic line of 657.8 nm to obtain the radial temperature profiles of the arc columns at a cross-section 1 mm above the nozzle. The calibration for the intensity of the C II 657.8 nm line was achieved by the Fowler-Milne method with the help of an oxygen atomic line of 777.2 nm. The highest temperature obtained in the arc center was up to 19 900 K when the arc current was 400 A and the CO 2 flow rate was 50 l min −1 , while the lowest temperature in the arc center was about 15 900 K when the arc current was 200 A and the CO 2 flow rate was 150 l min −1 . The results indicate that as the arc current increases, the temperature in the arc center would also increase apparently, and a larger gas flow rate would lead to a lower central temperature in general. It can also be found that the influence of the CO 2 flow rate on the arc temperature was much less than that of the arc current under the present experimental conditions. In addition, higher temperature in the arc center would cause a sharper temperature decrease from the central region towards the edge.

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