摘要： This paper deals with the impact of a gas discharge arrester's electrodes' shapes on its performance. When after extinguishing the electric arc between the electrodes of the gas discharge arrester and the electric-field strength between the electrodes exceeds the critical value, reignition occurs. Computation of the electric-field strength between the electrodes of the existing gas discharge arresters using the finite elements method shows that electric-field strength reaches its highest values at the edges of the electrodes. It therefore makes sense to reduce the electric-field strength at the edges of the electrodes by changing the electrodes' shapes. This also reduces the risk of reigniting the electric arc between the electrodes and improves the arrester's ability to self-extinguish. The electrodes can be geometrically shaped in such a way that ensures much uniform distribution of the electric-field strength as possible. This paper describes the model of a gas discharge arrester and the use of a differential evolution optimization algorithm for computation of the more adequate shapes of electrodes. Thus, uniform distribution of the electric-field strength is ensured between the gas discharge arrester electrodes.