Impact Power Generator in Electric Discharge Devices

Abstract

   Impact power generators and discharge initiation systems have been studied in order to evaluate the efficiency of their use in electric discharge devices and, in particular, for electrohydraulic technologies. Three variants of generator discharge initiation—by high-voltage breakdown from a pre-charged capacitor bank, high-voltage breakdown from the auxiliary high-voltage winding of the generator, and exploding metal inserts—have been comparatively analyzed. It has been shown that a preliminary short circuit of the generator with an instantaneous change in the short circuit mode to the electric arc discharge mode causes a forced input of energy into the discharge channel. This method of discharging the generator is implemented using exploding conductors. The initiation of the discharge by exploding conductors makes it possible to abandon the high-voltage capacitor bank and the means of charging it, but requires mechanical replacement of the conductors, which affects the pulse repetition rate. A shock power generator with an additional high-voltage winding makes it possible to obtain a higher pulse repetition rate without a high-voltage capacitor bank and means of charging it. The initiation of a generator discharge by a high-voltage breakdown without a preliminary short circuit of the working winding of the generator is inferior in terms of the efficiency of excitation of pressure shock waves to initiation by exploding conductors.