Estimation of surface roughness due to electrode erosion in field-distortion gas switch

Field distortion gas switch is one of the crucial elements in a Marx generator, fast linear transformer driver and other pulsed power installations. The performance of the gas switch, which is dramatically affected by the surface roughness due to electrode erosion during the discharge process, directly influences the output parameters, stability and reliability of the pulsed power system. In this paper, an electrode surface roughness (ESR) calculation model has been established based on a great deal of experimental data under operating current. The discharge current waveform, the peak height of the burr, the radius and the depth of etch pits in the electrode erosion region were used to predict the ESR. Also, experimental results indicate that this calculation model can effectively estimate the ESR of the test gas switch.