Transient response of a free-burning discharge: Quantitative model

Abstract

The work presented here deals with the application of the theoretical model of the nonequilibrium discharge developed by one of us to a free-burning discharge in argon subjected to a current impulse. The paper includes a description of the system of transport equations and a discussion of the boundary conditions and numerical solutions. The response to a 0.5-μs current ramp from 0.4 to 1.2 A is studied in detail. The variation of the basic parameters, such as the electron density, temperature, heat flux and diffusion velocity, the heavy-particle temperature, and heat flux and the average mass velocity is shown as a function of time and space. Radial profiles of the initial and final states are shown to agree well with the results of the earlier steady-state model.