A Study of Power Diode Failure Mechanisms in the U.S. Army Research Laboratory 30-mm Solid Propellant Electrothermal-Chemical (SPETC) Gun Facility

Experiments have been performed with a 100-kJ Pulse Forming Network (PFN) at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for the purpose of characterizing semiconductor diodes which serve as capacitor.protecting crowbar devices. These devices are viewed as critical electronic power components required f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Katulka, Gary L, White, Kevin J
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ARMY RESEARCH
CAPACITORS
CATASTROPHIC CONDITIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CRITICALITY(GENERAL)
ELECTRIC GUNS
ELECTRIC SHUNTS
Electrical and Electronic Equipment
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELECTROTHERMAL-CHEMICAL GUNS
Energy Storage
FACILITIES
FAILURE
Guns
HIGH FREQUENCY
HIGH VOLTAGE
Logistics, Military Facilities and Supplies
METHODOLOGY
PE62618A
Physical Chemistry
PHYSICS
POWER
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
RECOVERY
RECTIFIERS
REVERSIBLE
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
SOLID PROPELLANTS
TIME
VOLTAGE
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Summary:Experiments have been performed with a 100-kJ Pulse Forming Network (PFN) at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for the purpose of characterizing semiconductor diodes which serve as capacitor.protecting crowbar devices. These devices are viewed as critical electronic power components required for electric gun research that is currently in progress within the U.S. Army and elsewhere. As part of this study, computer techniques were used to refine and develop the understanding of the dynamic, or switching, behavior of PFN diodes. In combination with experimental results, the computer simulations helped to define particular conditions within a given electric gun system that can cause vulnerable or stressful situations for the semiconductor devices under test. It was determined from analyses of the various data collected, that when operated in a PFN under specific loading conditions (simulated here with fixed resistive loads), diodes are subject to transient or high frequency voltage peaks. In some experimental cases at the ARL, the magnitude of the rate of change in voltage (dV/dt) across the devices was such that catastrophic failure was observed. The details of the boundary conditions necessary for device failure are described and several solutions that will circumvent operational problems including device grouping, choice of diode reverse recovery time, and selection of capacitive and inductive circuit parameters are discussed in detail. Background information describing some fundamental physics of semiconductor diodes and their role in electrothermal-chemical (ETC) propulsion technology is provided first. jg