Numerical solution of the corona discharge problem based on mesh redefinition and test for a charge injection law

The paper presents a numerical and experimental study of corona discharge for a blade-plate configuration. Finite element method (FEM) is used to determine the electric potential between the electrodes and charge conservation equation is solved by the method of characteristics (MOC) to determine the charge density. The structured mesh is redefined at each step of the iterative scheme, the nodes of this structured mesh being the intersection points of the field and equipotential lines. The algorithm is applied for a simplified injection law at the blade. The numerical solutions give results which compare very favorably with experimental measurements of the characteristic curves I–V and of the current density distribution on the plate.