Vibration of Discharge Filaments in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge

The vibration of discharge filaments in a concentric spotring pattern in a dielectric barrier discharge is investigated by high-speed camera. The pattern, consisting of several sparsely and densely arranged-spot rings, bifurcates from a vibrating hexagonal superlattice. The discharge spots vibrate between two neighboring densely arranged-spot rings. The vibration period, generally ranging from 12 to 24 ms, increases with the increase of radius and argon concentration. The instantaneous images taken by a high-speed framing camera show that most of the vibrating spots and static spots discharge asynchronously. Based on the forces exerted on one vibrating spot by two neighboring static spots, a set of dynamical equations are developed to explain the vibration.