APELC has some history with testing dielectric materials under high voltage conditions. Generally, we’re always searching for better materials to use in our high voltage products that will increase reliability (against failure), while reducing size and weight.
Our first official move into this type work (grad school doesn’t count) was in the early 2000’s, resulting the IEEE Pulsed Power Conference paper “High Voltage Properties of Insulating Materials Measured in the Ultra Wideband”, supported under contract W9113M-04-P-0087.
For this effort, we used our MG15-3C-940PF Marx generator to drive material samples with approximately 300 kV short pulses, in the configuration described below. We tested a wide variety of materials to understand their bulk breakdown properties.
In 2011, APELC worked a phase 2 SBIR effort (contract FA9451-11-C-0145) for more material studies. For this effort, our MG30-1C-100NF Marx generator was used in a similar configuration to Figure 1. For this scenario, we were testing with larger energies and pulse widths; whereas before, we were interested in short pulse conditions and wanting to understand how hard we could push the limits of a material.
We don’t do much of this testing anymore, relying more on groups like the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). We recently delivered a new test system to UTA, shown below. This system was built around our MG12-1C-150nF Marx generator, giving our customer an erected voltage of 600 kV, with a pulsed energy of up to 2,250 J. It’s a big pulse.
A custom chamber was designed and built, as shown below. The chamber is connected directly to the Marx generator, avoiding cable failures. Inside the test chamber, we load the Marx generator with a water resistor, which can be varied in resistance to change the test conditions (voltage and pulse duration). The pulses are monitored with a current viewing resistor. The test sample was placed in a parallel configuration. We placed a series water resistor to protect the Marx generator from short circuit conditions, seen when the samples fail. A custom fixture was designed to hold the dielectric samples.
We look forward to hearing and reading about UTA’s success.
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About the Author
Jon Mayes is the Founder and President of APELC. With over 25 years of experience in pulsed power system design and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Jon has led the development of industry-leading Marx generators, EMP simulators, and high-voltage test systems. His work has supported the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and major research institutions across the U.S.
