Electrical breakdown of soil under nonlinear pulsed current spreading

Laboratory investigations on pulsed current spreading from spherical electrodes and evolution of electrical breakdown of silica sand with different water contents under a 15–20 kV voltage pulse were carried out. A sharp nonlinear decrease in the pulsed resistance of soil was observed when the current density exceeded a certain threshold value. Then ionization-overheating instability develops and leads to current contraction and plasma channel formation in the soil. The method for determination of the threshold electric field for ionization is proposed. Electrical discharge in wet sand was found to develop with a significant delay time for long discharge gaps similar to thermal breakdown. (paper)