Earlier investigations concerning erosion and arc duration for cable discharges are here supplemented by further experimental results, which are concerned particularly with the statistical distribution of the arc duration. If closure processes without visible arcs (time resolution approx. 10 ns) are disregarded, the arc duration is generally very well described by a log-normal distribution. The absolute values of the arc duration depend both on the battery voltage and, particularly, on the current. The very strong voltage dependence of the average arc duration and also of the material transfer rate observed in the earlier investigations for reed contacts with AgPd contact scheme may well be due to the superposition of the two processes "closure without arcs" and "closure with arc discharges".
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