electric field around the blunt rod to initiate streamer for
further breakdown to occur. Thus, the time to breakdown for
the blunt rod is longer compared to the sharp one.
In the competitive study, the blunt rod has higher number
of strikes. The reason is when both sharp/standard and blunt
rods are exposed to an intensifying electric field, both will
eventually emit point discharge ions and plasmas will form in
the air above them. If the external field continues to intensify,
upward going streamers can be launched from each of the
points but since the field strength decreases more rapidly with
distance over a sharp point than it does over a blunt one, the
blunt tip becomes the preferred point of interception. Another
reason the sharp tip is not preferred is that the point discharge
or corona that built up at the sharp tip limits electric field and
causes a shielding effect to the tip. This makes the tip looks as
if invisible to the simulated down coming lightning leader and
interception does not take place