Effects of radiative transfer modelling on the dynamics of a propagating electrical discharge

A radiative transfer methodology is developed for the modelling of coupled radiation, hydrodynamic and electromagnetic phenomena in unsteady air plasma flows. Absorption spectra are discretized according to the distribution functions of the absorption coefficients resulting from different types of radiative transitions, and this spectral model is combined with the differential P(1) approximation which is shown to predict quite accurately radiative source terms. The study of a propagating electrical arc in a 2D channel shows that radiative transfer modelling significantly affects the shape of the plasma and its dynamics. In particular, when compared with the results from the net emission coefficient method, the arc velocity is found to increase due to radiation absorption in the arc boundaries.