Jet regime of the afterspark channel decay

Experimental and computational analyses of jet formation at the boundary of a decaying pulse discharge in an ambient quiescent air at 1 atm are presented. High velocity jets are observed attributed to the channel curvature set during the initial breakdown phase. The general convex-to-concave jet direction is explained, and the mechanisms of jets formation are discussed. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3429675]