MODELLING OF ELECTRIC FIELD STRENGTH AMPLIFICATION AT THE TIPS OF THIN CONDUCTIVE RODS ARRAYS

Degree of the electric field (EF) amplification at the tips of thin and long conductive rods array has been calculated. It is shown that such amplification depends on the rods height (H) and radius (R), as well as on the distance between separate rods in the array. For simulation, an approach to numerical calculation of the EF near conductive rods with a large ratio of height to radius: H/R > 102–104 has been proposed. Rods with such parameters may represent carbon nanotubes, channels of breakdowns in insulation, lightning leader channels, lightning rods, etc. The proposed approach is based on the finite integration technique. It also uses the analytical law of decrease of the EF strength and potential of a conductive ellipsoid under potential in the directions perpendicular to the ellipsoid axis and above its tip. As a result, numerical calculations of the EF distribution in systems with such rods were carried out applying calculation grids with steps proportional to the rods length, not their diameters. It permits substantial decrease of the required computational resources such as memory and time.