Abstract
The physical processes following the electrical breakdown of water between planar and hemispherical electrodes separated by a sub-millimeter gap have been studied using electrical and optical diagnostics. The expanding plasma column after breakdown generates first shockwaves and at a later stage a vapor bubble which expands for about 200 μs and then decays with a time constant of 1 ms. The bubble decay time determines the dielectric recovery of the switch as has been shown with pulse-probe experiments.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 604-612 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2004 |
Keywords
- Dielectric recovery
- Electrical breakdown
- Pulsed power switching
- Shock-waves
- Water