Self-Breakdown Characteristics of a Single-Gap Hollow Electrode Multiaperture Pseudospark Switch

In this article, an experimental investigation of the discharge characteristics of a single-gap multiaperture pseudospark switch (SGMA-PSS) with hydrogen gas has been carried out under the dc high voltage using a demountable discharge chamber. The breakdown voltages of the SGMA-PSS have been measured for a wide range of hydrogen gas pressures from 10 to 60 Pa at various facing electrode gaps of 0.24, 0.34, and 0.44 cm. With the help of experimental results, an empirical relation has been obtained through the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm for the nonlinear least squares curve-fitting method. In the derived empirical relation,
${V}_{{0}}$
is inversely proportional to
${p}^{\sim {2}}{d}$
(
${V}_{{0}}\propto {1}/{p}^{\sim {2}}{d}$
). This relation shows some deviation from Paschen’s curve for parallel-plate electrode configuration, which is also representing that the breakdown voltage decreases with the increase in the product of the gas pressure and gap distance. The simulation has also been performed to understand discharge phenomena. The discharge initiation time and discharge growth at various hydrogen gas pressures for the same geometrical configuration with the 0.24-cm gap distance have been analyzed. The study would be very much useful for the design and development of high-power multiaperture PSS.