Oxide layer is easily formed on the surface of some metal droplets, which affects the dynamic behavior of droplet impact. In this paper, experiments were conducted for the impacting process of a molten aluminum droplet on a Teflon substrate. The thickness of surface oxide layer of aluminum droplets was controlled by varying oxygen concentrations in the gas atmosphere. The effects of oxygen concentration and Weber number on droplet spread, rebound, and splash behavior were investigated. Results show that the oxygen concentration in the environment directly affects the droplet impact behavior. The differences in the droplet retraction process at different oxygen concentrations are more significant than the spread process. Strong retraction causes droplet rebound ( We = 17.11) and splash ( We = 102.3) in hypoxic environments, whereas only weak retraction in air. The viscous dissipation of the droplet impact in different oxygen concentration environment is estimated by counting the droplet bounce height, and the dissipation increases with the increase of the oxygen concentration. The thickness of the oxide layer measured by scanning electron microscope (SEM) became thinner as the oxygen concentration decreases and, accordingly, the aluminum droplet collisions show different dynamic behavior. The experimental results are analyzed and explained regarding the reduction in surface tension, the increase in viscous forces, and the shear-thinning properties which increase the viscous dissipation during retraction. Ryan model was used to predict the droplet maximum spreading factor with the Weber number to the power of 0.5, better than the energy conservation based Pasandideh-Fard model.

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Arc duration and erosion characteristics of cables are closely related to electrical fire hazards. In this study, the arc duration and arc erosion characteristics of copper and aluminum core cables were explored. The main erosion modes of copper core cable with mica insulation (HC0) and aluminum core cable with PI insulation (HA0) were determined. Results show that several large molten droplets with diameters of 5±0.5mm would drip down from the molten pool on the cable end during arcing of HC0, but the molten droplets are adhered to the molten pool and do not drip down during arcing of HA0. We concluded that the differences in melting energy and oxide film between copper and aluminum are the main reasons for this phenomenon. Besides, the molten pool can be formed on the cable end as the insulation is heatproof, which plays a vital role in prolonging the arc duration of cables. The arc duration of cables with heatproof insulation is longer than those with common insulation. This means that the cables with heatproof insulation have higher fire hazards from the perspective of arc duration. To further understand the influence of molten pools on arc duration, an arc duration model was developed based on energy balance, which is beneficial in determining the arc duration of cables with heatproof insulation in electrical fire accident investigation.

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