Comparison of experimental data for arcs and a theory of electrical discharges

In order to interpret current and voltage temporal wave forms associated with gas breakdown discharges, one often models the discharge current channel and external circuitry using a simple LCR circuit. The discharge current may exhibit characteristics of an underdamped circuit except for the abrupt termination of the discharge after a finite number of rings. Using an LCR circuit model modified by an arc-welders-ansatz (the arc resistance is inversely proportional to the magnitude of the discharge current), the authors have obtained good agreement with data from gas breakdown experiments performed at the Naval Research Laboratories. Using one set of data to fix two free parameters in our theory, the authors find that they can correctly predict the number of current rings in all the other sets of data. The predictions also account for apparent anomalies in the current waveform