Interrupting Characteristic Of Triggered Vacuum Switch In High Oscillating Frequency Circuit

Pulse power technology is to release the energy stored in the medium to the load device through short circuit transition switch which can form the pulse, in this way high power can be obtained. High working frequency is an important development direction of pulse power technology. The issues which impede the working frequency improvement of pulse power system are the speed for energy storage and the working frequency limitation of short circuit transition switches. Triggered vacuum switch has excellent performance, and thus has wide application. Due to the adoption of vacuum as the insulating and arc extinguishing media and the vacuum has the advantage of quick recovery of dielectric strength, the triggered vacuum switch is promising in the high frequency application. For these reasons, this paper studies the interrupting capacity, the restrike property and dielectric strength recovery characteristic of triggered vacuum switch in high oscillating frequency circuits.In order to test the properties and phenomena of triggered vacuum switch when it interrupts the currents, five different oscillating frequencies are acquired by changing the inductance of the main circuit. What is more, the voltage of the capacitor in the main circuit is varied with the value of the 2kV,3kV,4kV and 5kV. By this way the continuously varied current peak and rate of current change when it passes zero are obtained to test the influence of them to interrupting properties. At the same time, by changing the charging voltage of the capacitor, the interrupting capacity of triggered vacuum switch is determined at each oscillating frequency.In the experiments many phenomena are observed, such as the different situations after the triggered vacuum switch has interrupted the current, the restrike phenomenon and the phenomenon that the interrupting capacity is influenced by the ways the current passes zero. These phenomena and the experimental results of the interrupting capacity, restrike time and restrike probability and the simulation result of vacuum dielectric strength recovery characteristic contribute to a better understanding of the working characteristic and the conducting and arc extinguishing mechanisms, which also provides reference and help to develop the vacuum triggered switch with higher working frequency in the future.