Development of a Compact 450-kJ Pulsed-Power-Supply System for Electromagnetic Launcher

A 450-kJ pulsed-power supply (PPS) for electromagnetic launcher has been built up. It consists of six 75-kJ pulse forming units (PFUs). Each PFU is composed of a 75-kJ capacitor (1000μ F/12.2 kV), a thyristor stack as main switch, a diode stack as crowbar, a specific pulse-shaping inductor(15\ /18\ mΩ), and a coaxial cable. The peak value of the output current of one PFU is 85 kA with a peak time of 190. The influencing factors of overvoltages on the series thyristor valves are studied by experiments and simulations based on PSCAD/EMTDC. A proper protection is used to prevent the series thyristor valves from being damaged by overvoltage when a switch is turned on. At the end, the total discharge currents of the PPS test with a short-circuit load and a railgun load are presented, respectively.