USE OF THE HOMOPOLAR GENERATOR TO POWER XENON DISCHARGE TUBES AND SOME ASSOCIATED SWITCHING PROBLEMS

摘要

In the experiments described herein, the homopolar generator was used for the first time with its four rotor discs connected in series to power xenon flash tubes being developed for high-power low-voltage operation. An arc developed in the electrolytic switch being used to terminate the pulse. Voltage surges produced by this and other arcs in the flash tube circuits caused the bus bars to arc over and the current exceeded the capacity of the light duty brushes being used in the generator. Damage within the generator allowed currents of several millions of amperes to flow and these led to damage to the rotors and bearings. This report gives an interpretation of the records of the event and outlines what the author considers to be the probable sequence.