THE EFFECT OF A LARGE SERIES RESISTANCE ON THE STREAMER-TO-SPARK TRANSITION IN DRY AIR

The streamer-to-spark transition is an important sub-process of the fl ashover of high-voltage apparatus. In this paper an investigation of t his transition in an electrode gap of the order of 1 cm in dry air wit h a non-uniform field distribution is presented. Parameters such as th e gap distance, polarity of applied voltage and pressure were varied, but the study was concentrated upon the influence of a large series re sistance (0-6 M Ohm) in the discharge circuit (inhibited discharges). Mainly, the positive discharge was studied, but some results for negat ive applied voltages are also included. The main finding was that the presence of a large series resistance in the discharge circuit substan tially prolonged the duration of the streamer-to-spark transition. The effect of the inhibiting series resistance seems to be that the disru ptive discharge is delayed, but not prevented.