1. 3.1.

Define the terms (i) Impulse voltages; (ii) Chopped wave; (iii) Impulse flash over
voltage; (iv) Impulse puncture voltage; (v) Impulse ratio for flash over; (vi) Impulse
ratio for puncture.
2. 3.3. Draw and compare the two simplified equivalent circuits of the impulse
generator circuits (a) and (b).
3. 3.7. Describe the construction, principle of operation and application of a multistage
Marx's Surge Generator.
4. 3.11. Draw a typical impulse current generator circuit and explain its operation and
application

1. (I) An impulse voltage is a unidirectional voltage which, without appreciable oscillations,

rises rapidly to a maximum value and falls more or less rapidly to zero.
(ii) If an impulse voltage is applied to a piece of insulation and if a flash over or puncture
occurs causing sudden collapse of the impulse voltage, it is called a chopped impulse
voltage.
(iii) Whenever an impulse voltage is applied to an insulating medium of certain thickness,
flash over may or
may not take place. If out of a total of say ten applications of impulse voltage about 5 of
them flash over
then the probability of flash over with that peak voltage of the impulse voltage is 50%. If the
flash over occurs more than 50% of the number of applications, it is defined as impulse
flash over voltage in excess of 50%.
(iv) The impulse puncture voltage is the peak value of the impulse voltage which causes
puncture of the
material when puncture occurs on the wave tail and is the value of the voltage at the instant
of puncture
when puncture occurs on the wave front.
(v) The impulse ratio for flash over is the ratio of impulse flash over voltage to the peak value
of power
frequency flash over voltage

2. The two circuits are widely used and differ only in the position of the wave tail control
resistance R2. When R2 is on the load side of R1 (Fig. a) the two resistances form a potential
divider which reduces the output voltage but when R2 is on the generator side of R1 (Fig. b)
this particular loss of output voltage is absent.
The impulse capacitor C1 is charged through a charging resistance (not shown) to a d.c.
voltage V0 and then discharged by flashing over the switching gap with a pulse of suitable
value. The desired impulse voltage appears across the load capacitance C2. The value of the
circuit elements determines the shape of the output impulse voltage. The following analysis
will help us in evaluating the circuit
parameters for achieving a particular wave shape of the impulse voltage.

3. The resistors may be made up of wire, liquid or composite (carbon etc.) resistive materials.
The
liquid and carbon resistors even though have high heat capacity, these are invariably not
used especially for wave front and tail control resistances as these are highly unstable
 The layout of an impulse generator is mainly decided by the type of capacitors used. Oil
paper
insulated capacitors having low inductance and high rate of discharge are normally
employed. The
material oil is often replaced by special fluids which are having higher permittivity to reduce
the size of
the capacitor for the same capacitance.

The coupling sphere gaps are arranged one above the other on horizontal arms and the
setting of
the gaps is adjusted by a remotely controlled motor in conjunction with an indicator. This
arrangement
with mutual irradiation ensures a perfect cascading of the spark gaps.

The impulse generator should have a device to earth the capacitors when it is not in
operation.
The d.c. capacitors can build up high voltages after a short time of short circuit due to the
relaxation
phenomenon.

The front and tail resistors are fixed to the generator frame by means of resistor carriers of
bakelised paper tubes. The charging resistors are fixed along the sphere gap column

The operation is explained as follows. The switch S is closed which initiates the sweep circuit
of
the oscillograph. The same impulse is applied to the grid of the thyratron tube. The inherent
time delay
of the thyratron ensures that the sweep circuit begins to operate before the start of the high
voltage impulse. A further delay can be introduced if required by means of a capacitance-
resistance circuit R1C1
. The
tripping impulse is applied through the capacitor C2. During the chargnig period of the
generator the
anode of the thyratron tube is held at a positive potential of about 20 kV. The grid is held at
negative
potential with the help of battery B so that it does not conduct during the charging period.
As the switch
S is closed, the trigger pulse is applied to the grid of the thyratron tube which conducts and a
negative
impulse of 20 kV is applied to the central sphere which triggers the impulse generator.

4. The impulse current wave is specified on the similar lines as an impulse voltage wave. A
typical impulse current wave is shown High current impulse generators usually consist of a
large number of capacitors connected in parallel to the common discharge path. A typical
impulse current generator circuit is shown in Fig. 3.14. The equivalent circuit of the
generator is shown in Fig. 3.15 and approximates to that of a capacitance C charged to a
voltage V0 which can be considered to discharge through an inductance L and a resistance R.
In practice both L and R are the effective inductance and resistance of the leads, capacitors
and the test objects