Usefulness of SPICE in high voltage engineering education

The usefulness of the SPICE circuit analysis program is demonstrated in high voltage engineering education, where assembling the actual circuit might be very time-consuming and costly and hand calculation techniques could be very complicated. Two representative high-voltage generating circuits are simulated. One is an impulse generator and the other is a voltage multiplier. The first circuit is analyzed for the dependence of the risetime of the impulse voltage on the values of the wave-front resistor, line inductance, and load capacitance. A three-stage impulse generator is also simulated to determine the effects of wave-front and wave-tail resistors on the voltage waveform. The second circuit is analyzed for the dependence of the output voltage and ripple on the load resistance and output capacitance. SPICE can similarly be used for most high-voltage systems in the laboratory, making use of students' time much more effective as well as limiting their exposure to very high voltages, ensuring personal safety in the laboratory.<>