Engineering Commons^™

The Corona-To-Spark Transition And Its Dependence On Electric Field Non-Uniformity, David O. Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The corona to spark transition is an important part of understanding gaseous breakdown in non-uniform fields. The degree of uniformity in the geometry determines both the onset of corona as well as the eventual spark transition. In a highly non-uniform geometry, the onset of corona precedes the development of a spark. However, in weakly non-uniform fields, corona is unable to form before it transitions into a spark. The degree of non-uniformity at which this transition occurs is known as the corona point.

An experimental setup using the point electrodes allows precise changes in field uniformity, characterizing the corona point in …

A Narrow-Wall Complementary-Split-Ring Slotted Waveguide Antenna For High-Power-Microwave Applications, Xuyuan Pan

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A narrow-band, rugged, complementary-split-ring (CSR) slotted waveguide antenna (SWA) with significant size reduction is presented. The antenna is to be vertically front mounted on a land vehicle, with a horizontally polarized fan-beam radiation pattern. The radiation characteristics of a CSR slot in the narrow-wall of a rectangular waveguide are studied for the first time in this work. Both simulation and experimental results show that the complementary-split-ring slot radiates a linearly polarized wave with a total efficiency and gain close to those of conventional longitudinal slots, while the proposed CSR slots have a maximal outer diameter of 0.23λ₀, much …

Optimizing Swap For Directed Energy – Detection Of Buried Conductors With Low-Energy High-Voltage Pulses, Jon C. Pouncey

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

High-voltage directed energy systems have shown promise in the role of neutralizing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in various experiments over the last decade. While these systems can be very effective with significant benefits over conventional counter-IED techniques, the excessive space, weight, and prime power (SWaP) requirements create significant challenges in developing deployable systems. One promising technique for dramatically reducing the SWaP requirement for certain types of directed energy counter-IED systems is the separation of the pulsed-power circuits into high voltage and high energy subsystems. In this technique, termed low average power high-voltage energy (LP-HVE) a repetitive low-energy, high-voltage pulse subsystem …