Tutorial demonstration of DBD characteristics via fluid simulations

Abstract

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD), capable of sustaining non-thermal plasmas at atmospheric pressure, shows great potential for many emerging applications. This paper presents a tutorial demonstration of fundamental plasma parameters in DBDs based on the one-dimensional fluid model with Local-Mean-Energy Approximation. The model incorporates the electron density and energy balance equations coupled with Poisson’s equation, and its accuracy has been verified by comparison with experimental results. The validated model was subsequently utilized to investigate detailed DBD characteristics, encompassing discharge current, gap voltage dynamics, charge accumulation on dielectric surfaces, Lissajous figures for power calculation, and discharge symmetry. The transition of the discharge from the symmetric single-period (SP1) to the asymmetric single-period (AP1) mode is analyzed, and the formulation for the gap voltage components is derived. This work is designed to serve as a practical guide for practitioners to computational plasma discharge simulations.