Current-voltage characteristics of dc corona discharges in air between coaxial cylinders

This paper presents the experimental measurement and numerical analysis of the current-voltage characteristics of dc corona discharges in air between coaxial cylinders. The current-voltage characteristics for both positive and negative corona discharges were measured within a specially designed corona cage. Then the measured results were fitted by different empirical formulae and analyzed by the fluid model. The current-voltage characteristics between coaxial cylinders can be expressed as I = C(U − U0)m, where m is within the range 1.5–2.0, which is similar to the point-plane electrode system. The ionization region has no significant effect on the current-voltage characteristic under a low corona current, while it will affect the distribution for the negative corona under a high corona current. The surface onset fields and ion mobilities were emphatically discussed.