Statistical Properties of the Dielectric Strength of Triggered Vacuum Switches

The dielectric strength of triggered vacuum switches (TVSs) was studied using two measuring techniques. In the first of these, the voltage of the first TVS breakdown was measured at every slow increase in the voltage of the commercial frequency. In the second, a constant preset voltage was applied to a TVS several times until the gap was broken down. In this case, the number of successful experiments before TVS breakdown was recorded. It is shown that the results from processing the data obtained by different methods of measurement are in satisfactory agreement. The practical importance of the second measuring technique for determining the region corresponding to low breakdown probabilities in the TVS-breakdown probability distribution curve is demonstrated.