Derivation of a merging condition for two interacting streamers in air

Zdenek Bonaventura (1) , Max Duarte (2) , Anne Bourdon (3) , Marc Massot (3)

1 Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Science
2 JAD - Laboratoire Jean Alexandre Dieudonné
3 EM2C - Laboratoire d'Énergétique Moléculaire et Macroscopique, Combustion

The simulation of the interaction of two simultaneously propagating air streamers of the same polarity is presented. A parametric study has been carried out using an accurate numerical method which ensures a time-space error control of the solution. For mutual separation of both streamers smaller or comparable to the longest characteristic absorption length of photoionization in air, we have found that streamers tend to merge if the ratio between their radii and their mutual distance is about 0.35 for positive streamers, and 0.4 for negative ones. Moreover it is demonstrated that these ratios are practically independent of the applied electric field, the initial seed configuration, and the pressure.

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]; Physique Numérique [physics.comp-ph]; Plasmas; Modélisation et simulation; Equations aux dérivées partielles [math.AP]

Zdenek Bonaventura, Max Duarte, Anne Bourdon, Marc Massot. Derivation of a merging condition for two interacting streamers in air. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 2012, pp.1-10. ⟨hal-00697691v1⟩