Electrical breakdown of short spark gaps with several electrode materials in atmospheric air at AC (50Hz) and ramp voltage (10 kV/µs)

Within this paper the investigation of electrical breakdown behaviour of short, quasi-homogeneous spark gaps in atmospheric air with several electrode materials (e.g. copper, aluminium, graphite and composite materials) at AC voltage (50Hz) and ramp voltage with a steepness of 10 kV/µs will be presented. Investigations were carried out for breakdown distances in the range of 0.5 mm up to 5 mm. The investigated electrode arrangements are classified by a degree of homogeneity in the range of ? ˜ 1 - 0.85. Initially, the influence of electrode material on the breakdown behaviour for AC – 50 Hz stress by using metallic, non-metallic and composite materials in atmospheric air will be presented. The theoretical background is given by Paschen´s law. The measured breakdown voltages will be…