Design on Thin Wire of Wire Burn Test for the High Voltage Power Supply Breakdown

The short-circuit protection device (snubber or crowbar) of high-voltage power supply can absorb or bypass the energy fed by the power supply when the klystron sparks and protects the klystron. The reliability test of the snubber and crowbar becomes an urgent demand. This article presents a simple method to test the reliability of snubber and crowbar, in which a thin wire is adopted to replace the klystron and simulate its sparking characteristics. When sparking occurs, the thin wire will fuse if the energy fed to it is over 6 J when the effect of snubber or crowbar is included. This article mainly focuses on how to design such a thin wire for the wire burn test. At first, a theoretical model is proposed to design the wire which can just stand 6 J energy. Then, this method is verified by simulation. At last, experimental test is performed, and the validity of the method proposed in this article is verified. It indicates that the thin wire is effective in simulating the sparking characteristics of the klystron, and it can be used in the reliability test of the klystron.