Understanding and Improving High Voltage Vacuum Insulators for Microsecond Pulses

摘要

In this report we summarize our modeling and simulation efforts, theoretical studies, and experimental investigations. The computational work began by exploring the limits of commercially available codes and demonstrating methods to examine field enhancements and defect mechanisms at microscopic levels. Plasma simulations with particle codes used in conjunction with circuit models of the experimental apparatus enabled comparisons with experimental measurements. The large scale plasma (LSP) particle-in-cell (PIC) code was run on multiprocessor platforms and used to simulate expanding plasma conditions in vacuum gap regions. Algorithms were incorporated into LSP to handle secondary electron emission from dielectric materials to enable detailed simulations of flashover phenomenon. Theoretical studies were focused on explaining a possible mechanism for anode initiated surface flashover that involves an electron avalanche process starting near the anode, not a mechanism involving bulk dielectric breakdown. Experiments were performed in Engineering's Pulsed Power Lab using an available 100-kV, 10-is pulse generator and vacuum chamber. The initial experiments were done with polyethylene insulator material in the shape of a truncated cone cut at +45DG angle between flat electrodes with a gap of 1.0 cm. The insulator was sized so there were no flashovers or breakdowns under nominal operating conditions. Insulator flashover or gap closure was induced by introducing a plasma source, a tuft of velvet, in proximity to the insulator or electrode.