The pulsed discharge arc resistance and its functional behavior

A generalized comparison of several theoretical and empirical arc-resistance equations was conducted by normalizing the theoretical and experimental arc-resistance values at t=0.5 μs (approximate time of maximum arc current). It was found that the arc-resistance equations considered could be grouped according to their functional form and were either of the inverse integral or inverse exponential form. The accuracies of both are discussed. At pressures approaching one atmosphere, it has been shown that the equations developed by I.V. Demenik et al. (1968), Kushner et al. (1985), Rompe and W. Weizel (1944), and A.E. Vlastos (1972) were equally accurate predictions of arc resistance for 0.1 μs<t<0.5 μs. The equation proposed by Kushner et al. provided the most accurate arc-resistance predictions with a minimum of accumulated error for the pulse types and lengths that were considered in this investigation