Two-Dimensional Simulation of Spatial-Temporal Behaviors About Period Doubling Bifurcation in an Atmospheric-Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge

As a spatially extended dissipated system, atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) could in principle possess complex nonlinear behaviors. In order to improve the stability and uniformity of atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharges, studies on tem- poral behaviors and radial structure of discharges with strong nonlinear behaviors under different controlling parameters are much desirable. In this paper, a two-dimensional fluid model is devel- oped to simulate the radial discharge structure of period-doubling bifurcation, chaos, and inverse period-doubling bifurcation in an atmospheric-pressure DBD. The results show that the period-2n (n = 1, 2...) and chaotic discharges exhibit nonuniform discharge structure. In period-2n or chaos, not only the shape of current pulses doesn’t remains exactly the same from one cycle to an- other, but also the radial structures, such as discharge spatial evolution process and the strongest breakdown region, are different in each neighboring discharge event. Current-voltage characteris- tics of the discharge system are studied for further understanding of the radial structure.