SKVIN-1 bench for studying of breakdown mechanisms of insulating gaps with short voltage pulses

Summary form only given, as follows. The appearance and block diagram of a SKVIN-1 bench for studying the breakdown mechanisms of air insulating gaps at voltage pulses effect with nanosecond rise fronts are presented. The bench makes it possible to perform investigations at voltage pulses of both positive and negative polarity with varying amplitude of 100-500 kV; rise time of 30-400 ns; and source resistance of 10-500 Ohm. The diagnostic base of the SKVIN-1 bench allows to measure voltage, pulsed current; record optical pattern in streak and frame registration regimes both on the pre-ionization stage and the main discharge in an unified time scale. Some investigation results of the discharge parameters in the air gap rod-plane both on the pre-ionization stage and the main discharge are presented. Comparison of the recorded experimental discharge parameters with the data of numerical simulation in the framework of the joint solution of Maxwell equations and air ionization kinetics in two-dimensional geometry is performed.