Development of high-voltage nanosecond discharge in strongly non-uniform gas

The results of the experimental and numerical study of a high-voltage nanosecond discharge developing through a shock wave in air and combustible mixtures were presented for various neutral density jumps across the wave. The discharge uniformity was investigated using ICCD camera images in a shock tube. The results demonstrated that the discharge plasma became more uniform when the ionization wave moved from a high-density region to a low-density region. The radiation intensity emitted by the plasma in the low-density region was higher than that emitted by the plasma in the high-density plasma. The results of a zero-dimensional simulation in the case of quasi-uniform plasma agree well with the measured ratios of the intensities radiated by the plasmas before and after the shock front. A two-dimensional simulation of the development of a steamer intersecting the shock wave showed that the streamer characteristics change drastically during the transition from the high-density region to the low-density region. Streamer penetration into the low-density region was accompanied by the formation of primary and secondary ionization waves. (paper)