Abstract: In order to further understand the formation mechanism of the multiple current pulse phenomena in atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier uniform discharges, a one-dimensional extended fluid model has been established. Taking the effects of electron temperature on electron transport parameters into account, an additional electron energy balance equation has been introduced into the extended fluid model. It is demonstrated that discharges with multiple current pulses always operate in the Townsend mode. The early discharge provides lots of seed electrons for the subsequent discharge, resulting in the decreases of both breakdown voltage and current pulse in the successive discharges. As the driving frequency increases, the number of current pulses decreases but their magnitudes increase. As the driving voltage amplitude increases, both the number and magnitude of the current pulses increase. These simulation results are in good agreement with experimental results.

Key words: dielectric barrier discharge, multiple pulse discharge, Townsend mode, extended fluid model, numerical simulation