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The flashover failure and damage of polypropylene (PP) and polyester (PET) films under nanosecond current pulses were experimentally investigated. A nanosecond pulse current test platform was established to study the flashover characteristics, performance degradation, and structural damage of dielectric films under repeated nanosecond current pulses. The accumulation and emission of surface charge influenced by field distortion and trap distribution were analyzed to clarify the mechanism by which the flashover voltage increases linearly with gas pressure at low pressure and saturates at high pressure. The significant effects of pulse energy, gas pressure, and discharge gap on film damage behavior were investigated. The damage pattern of PP and PET films includes surface deformation, reduced flash-voltage tolerance, molecular chain breakage, and group shedding. The damage of PP films is manifested as fine furrows, while PET corresponds to mountainous bumps. With the increasing number of discharges, the breakdown voltage of PP films decreased significantly, while the flash tolerance performance of PET films was more stable. Under the conditions of high pulse current amplitude, small discharge gap, and low air pressure, the damage degree of the film intensifies, which is characterized by severe destruction to the molecular structure and a significant decrease in flashover withstand voltage. Polymer films, flashover, nanosecond current pulses; performance degradation; microstructural damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the key components of an electromagnetic pulse simulator, the peaking capacitor is coaxially constructed with a laminate structure utilizing alternative thin metal rings and polymer film dielectrics, which is designed as a part of the antenna. This paper presents a coaxial film capacitor with a novel structure to improve its flashover performance. First, the relationship between the capacitance and the capacitor's structural parameters are deduced, and a theoretical basis of lengthening the polymer film dielectrics to enhance the flashover performance is discussed. Based on the theoretical analysis, two 150 pF, 3-layer coaxial film capacitors with different extended lengths for the polymer film dielectrics (10 and 60 mm) are designed and developed. For the capacitor with a 60 mm extended film dielectric, the polymethylmethacrylate rings are adhered to the thin metal rings to support the polymer film dielectrics using a soft adhesive. Electric field analyses show that a longer extended length could decrease the surface field at the edge of the polymer film dielectric by as much as 93%. Comparative insulation experiments show that the flashover voltage for the improved capacitor is 89.9% higher than the original one. The influence of the capacitor's polymer extensions (including the polymer supporting rings and the film dielectrics) on the radiating field of a cone antenna is analyzed numerically, and the results show that only slight changes are introduced into the radiating field. Finally, a designed 350 pF, 20-layer coaxial film capacitor with lengthened film dielectrics is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]