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Title: A Comparison of High-Voltage Switches

Abstract

This report summarizes our work on high-voltage switches during the past few years. With joint funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD), we tested a wide variety of switches to a common standard. This approach permitted meaningful comparisons between disparate switches. Most switches were purchased from commercial sources, though some were experimental devices. For the purposes of this report, we divided the switches into three generic types (gas, vacuum, and semiconductor) and selected data that best illustrates important strengths and weaknesses of each switch type. Test techniques that indicate the state of health of the switches are emphasized. For example, a good indicator of residual gas in a vacuum switch is the systematic variation of the switching delay in response to changes in temperature and/or operating conditions. We believe that the presentation of this kind of information will help engineers to select and to test switches for their particular applications. Our work was limited to switches capable of driving slappers. Also known as exploding-foil initiators, slappers are detonators that initiate a secondary explosive by direct impact with a small piece of matter moving at the detonation velocity (several thousands of meters per second). Amore » slapper is desirable for enhanced safety (no primary explosive), but it also places extra demands on the capacitor-discharge circuit to deliver a fast-rising current pulse (greater than 10 A/ns) of several thousand amperes. The required energy is substantially less than one joule; but this energy is delivered in less than one microsecond, taking the peak power into the megawatt regime. In our study, the switches operated in the 1 kV to 3 kV range and were physically small, roughly 1 cm{sup 3} or less. Although a fuze functions only once in actual use, multiple-shot capability is important for production testing and for research work. For this reason, we restricted this report to multiple-shot switches. Furthermore, our work included only switches with submicrosecond timing precision, thereby excluding mechanical switches.« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
US Department of Energy (US)
OSTI Identifier:
3560
Report Number(s):
SAND99-0154
TRN: AH200112%%335
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Feb 1999
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE; DETONATORS; CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES; SAFETY; SWITCHES; PERFORMANCE TESTING; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; DESIGN

Citation Formats

Chu, K W, and Scott, G L. A Comparison of High-Voltage Switches. United States: N. p., 1999. Web. doi:10.2172/3560.
Chu, K W, & Scott, G L. A Comparison of High-Voltage Switches. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/3560
Chu, K W, and Scott, G L. 1999. "A Comparison of High-Voltage Switches". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/3560. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/3560.
@article{osti_3560,
title = {A Comparison of High-Voltage Switches},
author = {Chu, K W and Scott, G L},
abstractNote = {This report summarizes our work on high-voltage switches during the past few years. With joint funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD), we tested a wide variety of switches to a common standard. This approach permitted meaningful comparisons between disparate switches. Most switches were purchased from commercial sources, though some were experimental devices. For the purposes of this report, we divided the switches into three generic types (gas, vacuum, and semiconductor) and selected data that best illustrates important strengths and weaknesses of each switch type. Test techniques that indicate the state of health of the switches are emphasized. For example, a good indicator of residual gas in a vacuum switch is the systematic variation of the switching delay in response to changes in temperature and/or operating conditions. We believe that the presentation of this kind of information will help engineers to select and to test switches for their particular applications. Our work was limited to switches capable of driving slappers. Also known as exploding-foil initiators, slappers are detonators that initiate a secondary explosive by direct impact with a small piece of matter moving at the detonation velocity (several thousands of meters per second). A slapper is desirable for enhanced safety (no primary explosive), but it also places extra demands on the capacitor-discharge circuit to deliver a fast-rising current pulse (greater than 10 A/ns) of several thousand amperes. The required energy is substantially less than one joule; but this energy is delivered in less than one microsecond, taking the peak power into the megawatt regime. In our study, the switches operated in the 1 kV to 3 kV range and were physically small, roughly 1 cm{sup 3} or less. Although a fuze functions only once in actual use, multiple-shot capability is important for production testing and for research work. For this reason, we restricted this report to multiple-shot switches. Furthermore, our work included only switches with submicrosecond timing precision, thereby excluding mechanical switches.},
doi = {10.2172/3560},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/3560}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1999},
month = {Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1999}
}