An scr-switched, high voltage, high gain linear transformer system

A 100-J, 100-KV linear transformer system has been designed to demonstrate the general characteristics of solid state switched, multi-stage transformers that could be adapted to applications including high-pulse repetition rates and high duty cycles without requiring auxiliary equipment such as that associated with spark gaps or thyratrons. The transformer has four 1200-V parallel, separately switched, primary sections and a net voltage gain of 100. It can be operated in either an air core or partial magnetic core configuration. Testing included normal and fault mode operation with both resistor and capacitor loads. The system delivered full voltage output with all primary drives in the circuit and only proportionally lower output with one to three drives disconnected. This demonstrated that linear transformer sections utilizing many primary stages could be expected to continue functioning properly with relatively small decrease in output if a component failure occurred in one or two sections during operation, and the faulty section(s) were fused or switched out of the circuit. This feature could be important in applications requiring very high reliability.