APPLICATION OF NONUNIFORM ELECTRIC LINES IN THE MARX GENERATOR TO STABILIZE THE SWITCHING DELAY OF SPARK GAPS

A method to stabilize the delay time (t(m)) for the breakdown of spark gaps of the Marx generator is described. The inclusion of electric li nes between separate stages, with the charaeteristic impedance increas ing along the line, increases the amplitude of pulsed voltage applied to the spark gap in the next stage and increases the overvoltage acros s the spark gap. This decreases the jitter of t(m) values. A scheme of a five-stage generator is suggested, with four different variants of nonuniform lines, and the transient processes in such a scheme are ana lyzed. The results of experiments are given for a shielded atmospheric generator with capacitors of the K15-10 type (4.7 nF, 50 kV) in the s tages. In the first stage, switching is performed by a nitrogen-filled trigatron. The other stages are switched by two-electrode air spark g aps. It is shown that an generator with lines in the second and third stages provides a much higher stability of t(m) at a small jitter. Und er the same conditions, it provides a wider ran of the electrical stre ngth resource of spark gaps, in which the generator starts with a smal ler jitter in t(m), as compared to the scheme without lines.