Nanosecond-pulse gliding discharges between point-to-point electrodes in open air

In this paper, gliding discharges with a point-to-point electrode geometry were produced by a repetitively pulsed power supply with a rise time of similar to 100 ns and a full-width at half-maximum of similar to 200 ns. The characteristics of such discharges were investigated by measuring their voltage-current waveforms and taking photographs of their discharge images. Experimental results showed that once the breakdown occurred, the nanosecond-pulse gliding discharges went into a stable stage at all air gaps, behaving in a mode of repetitive sparks. Under certain conditions, a non-stable stage would appear some time after the discharge went into the stable stage, in which the gliding discharges transitioned from repetitive sparks to diffuse discharges. Furthermore, several factors (gap spacing, pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and gas flow rate) influencing the discharge characteristics were investigated. It was observed that both the breakdown voltage and ignition voltage increased with the gap spacing, and a diffuse discharge was absent when the gap spacing was less than 6 mm. The breakdown voltage decreased with the increase in the PRF and its decrease ratio was larger in large gap spacing than in small gap spacing. Discharges would transit from repetitive sparks to diffuse discharges as the flow rate increased. Furthermore, a comparison of nanosecond-pulse and ac gliding discharges was conducted with respect to the power supply. The consumption and energy, the relationship between the power supply and the load, and the time interval between two pulses were three main factors which could lead to different characteristics between the nanosecond-pulse and ac gliding discharges.