Effect of the gas dynamic structure of a flow on the parameters of a self-sustained discharge. I

A study is made of self-sustained glow discharges in transverse gas flows and jets. The distributions of the discharge current and voltage over the elements of a sectioned cathode array are measured along with the temperature of the cathode array. The limiting current and discharge voltage corresponding to the transition from a uniformly burning discharge to a contracted state are measured. Two-dimensional and one-dimensional systems of equations for the gas dynamics and vibrational kinetics are used for a numerical analysis of the experimental data, and the results are used to determine the character of the distribution of E/N in the discharge, where E is the electric field and N is the molecular density. The heat balance of the cathode array is calculated. A model is proposed for self-consistently calculating the parameters of the gas flow, the distribution of the current over the cathode array, and the discharge voltage, as well as the values of the ballast resistances. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.