TY - GEN
T1 - Pulsed volume and surface discharges in an SF6 environment
AU - Vela, Russell
AU - Krile, John T.
AU - Neuber, Andreas A.
AU - Krompholz, Hermann G.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Volume and surface discharges in SF6 are investigated to support refurbishment of the Z-machine's Laser Triggered Gas Switch, LTGS, at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The recently upgraded LTGS has exhibited a failure mode which results in surface flashover on the inside of the dielectric switch envelope. These flashover events degrade the LTGS performance and cause a pre-fire in the successive shot. In the following, experimental results of both volume breakdown and surface flashover across different dielectric materials in SF6 primarily at 20 psig are presented. In addition to fast voltage and current monitoring of the breakdown events, there was an emphasis put on imaging and optical emission spectra (̃200 nm to ̃700 nm). As much as possible, the laboratory experiment was designed to reproduce the conditions found in the 5.5 MV LTGS. The principal physical mechanisms involved in surface flashover at various pressures of SF6 are vital to the understanding of this specific switch failure mode.
AB - Volume and surface discharges in SF6 are investigated to support refurbishment of the Z-machine's Laser Triggered Gas Switch, LTGS, at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The recently upgraded LTGS has exhibited a failure mode which results in surface flashover on the inside of the dielectric switch envelope. These flashover events degrade the LTGS performance and cause a pre-fire in the successive shot. In the following, experimental results of both volume breakdown and surface flashover across different dielectric materials in SF6 primarily at 20 psig are presented. In addition to fast voltage and current monitoring of the breakdown events, there was an emphasis put on imaging and optical emission spectra (̃200 nm to ̃700 nm). As much as possible, the laboratory experiment was designed to reproduce the conditions found in the 5.5 MV LTGS. The principal physical mechanisms involved in surface flashover at various pressures of SF6 are vital to the understanding of this specific switch failure mode.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=68249101043&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/PPPS.2007.4652547
DO - 10.1109/PPPS.2007.4652547
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:68249101043
SN - 1424409144
SN - 9781424409143
T3 - PPPS-2007 - Pulsed Power Plasma Science 2007
SP - 1831
EP - 1835
BT - PPPS-2007
Y2 - 17 June 2007 through 22 June 2007
ER -