Re: THOR Bang energy vs. streamer length measured

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Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 


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From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
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Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 9:54 AM
Subject: RE: THOR Bang energy vs. streamer length measured


 > Original poster: "Denicolai, Marco" <Marco.Denicolai-at-tellabs-dot-com>
 >
 > Hi Jim,
 >
 > What make problematic treat this subject is that the so-called
 > "streamer" formation is such a multi-timescale phenomena.

You bet... it's a really, really tough problem.  And worse yet, one with
absolutely no commercial value to understand.


At every scale
 > level the mechanisms are possibly different. I can see at least:
 >
 > 1. The single semiwave level. That is, for my TC resonant freq. (about


 >
 > 2. The single bang level. Includes the effect of a bunch and
 > positive/negative alternation of level 1. How they do affect each other?
 > I don't know. The number of oscillations within a single bang depends on
 > the TC tuning and on the RSG quench time, of course.

And on the high speed properties of the "topload:developing streamer"
system. The inductance of the topload is probably significant.

 >
 > 3. The bang sequence level. This is the level I'm working at. A series
 > of successive bangs elongates the leader. They are spaced according to
 > the BPS rate. Note that we suppose this is an isolated sequence. The TC
 > was just turned on.

I suspect that this time scale is the domininant one for understanding the
phenomenology.

 >
 > 4. The discharge sequence level. Now the TC is permanently on. Bangs
 > come continuously at BPS rate. Streamers swing all directions. Now we
 > can speculate how well a streamer will stay "on the same track" of a
 > previous streamer. We can now have more or less "fat" streamers. I would
 > actually call them breakdowns or "final jumps".
 >
 > Now, certainly at some of the above levels channel warmup will play its
 > role. But there are many alternatives for already taken "ways" to become
 > a leader. In my understanding the static charge left will direct the
 > final choice. In any case the elongating leader end, where the filaments
 > are swinging, is in virgin territory and will be directed by the gap
 > electric field and its deformation due, again, to static charge
 > deposited in it.
 >
 > Do you agree?

yes

 >
 >  > I was thinking that as a new spark starts to develop, it can
 >  > more rapidly move through the previous channel, depositing
 >  > the new charge as it goes.  Clearly, in a TC, with HV AC on
 >  > th
 > ck and forth through
 >  > the spark channel during the "bang", but that's a fairly fast
 >  > (i.e. speed of light) propagation, as opposed to leader
 >  > growth, which is a 0.01c kind of thing.
 >  >
 >  > I'm thinking of a faster time scale version of the dielectric
 >  > treeing phenomenon, for instance.
 >
 > -
 >
 >