Discharge electrode configuration effects on the performance of a plasma sparker

A multi-electrode array is commonly applied in a plasma sparker to generate stable acoustic pulses. In this paper, the effects of the electrode configuration on the performance of a plasma sparker have been investigated. In terms of the load electrical characteristics, the electrode radius and distance have negligible influence on the electric characteristics, whereas a larger electrode number results in a smaller voltage and a larger current but has little effect on the load energy. Regarding the acoustic characteristics, both the expansion and collapse pulses can be increased by decreasing the electrode tip radius. the influence of the electrode number and electrode gap distance on the amplitude of the expansion pulse was found to be negligible. And the amplitude of the collapse pulse decreases significantly with increasing electrode number. Increasing the electrode number decreases the energy efficiency for intense bubble interactions, thus, a small electrode tip radius and a small electrode number are preferred for the design of a plasma sparker if the total discharge energy is given.