Simulation on the formation of sheath in argon discharge

The formation of arc in high voltage equipment is an unbalanced gas disruption and the principles of it are important in apparatus switching. For the complexity of gas disruption principles, the modeling and computer simulations to the beginning of gas disruption are vital in this domain. Particle-in-cell method is adopted in our work to disperse the Boltzmann equation and build a mathematical model. The gas disruption between the contacts of electrical apparatus at the beginning of switching is studied by this method and the microscopic parameters about gas disruption and the formation of sheath are also acquired here. A lot of charged particles are traced in our work and the formation of plasma sheath, the distribution function of electron, ionization rate, density of electron and the electric field are acquired. The long-range collisions between electron, ion and atom are considered here and the cross section is relating to particle energy. It can be seen from the results that the voltage between the electrodes have an effect on the formation of the sheath and the sheath plays an important role in breaker switching.