Resistance of pulsed arc discharge in air and SF/sub 6/

The time-dependent are resistance of a high-current pulsed discharge was obtained accurately for various gases, helium, nitrogen, air, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and sulfur hexafluoride, by solving the circuit equation using the measured values of the current and breakdown voltage. The gap separation and the gas pressure were changed from 0.1 to 2.0 cm and from 200 to 760 torr, respectively. The arc resistance takes the minimum value at the maximum arc current, and the minimum value can be expressed by a function of the maximum current. The arc resistances obtained from the equations by Kushner and AWA model agree well with the measured values.