The discharge characteristics of surface dielectric barrier discharge sustained by repetitive nanosecond pulses in open air

Abstract

A nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (NPSDBD) is a promising method for flow control and combustion. We systematically investigated the influence of pulse parameters on the discharge characteristics of NPSDBD, especially on the conduction current of discharge and the energy deposition curves. Meanwhile, the differences of the characteristics of the discharge generated by positive pulses and negative pulses are focused in this paper. The underlying physics is also discussed. Four different discharge regimes of NPSDBD are presented, which can be distinguished by the temporal emission behaviors of discharge and the conduction current of discharge. The transitions of four discharge regimes were also investigated by changing the pulse amplitude, repetitive rate, and voltage polarity. It was found that it is easier to translate quasi-uniform discharge to filamentary discharge or transition mode for the repetitive pulses with a negative polarity. A phenomenological model was proposed to explain the differences between a positive repetitive pulse discharge and a negative repetitive pulse discharge.