A Measurement System for Arc Volt Ampere Characteristics of Triggered Vacuum Switches

Triggered vacuum switch are widely used in power systems and the field of pulsed power. Their reliable triggering and current carrying capacity are mainly affected by the macro characteristics of vacuum arcs, among which the volt ampere characteristics of vacuum arcs are an important indicator reflecting the breaking performance of switches. In order to measure the volt-ampere characteristics of vacuum arc, a set of arc test device based on triggered vacuum switch with multi-rod electrode is designed in this paper. The device consists of a main circuit and a triggering circuit, where the main circuit analogs pulse working condition and the triggering circuit provides initial plasma. The feasibility and effectiveness of the circuit design scheme were verified through simulation and experiments. The triggering conduction of the vacuum trigger switch was tested, and the switch voltage and circuit current were collected. The experimental results verified the positive volt ampere characteristics of the vacuum arc. The research work provides theoretical support for the design and the performance improvement of vacuum switch.