Mechanically Driven Compact High Voltage Generator

For autonomous high voltage loads very compact high voltage generators are needed. Several technologies have been investigated in the past, starting from magnetic flux compression generators, up to Marx generators and tesla transformators. A new approach is to use piezo technology and a compact mechanical pressure generator. The main advantage in mechanical pressure generation is the possibility to store the needed energy in chemical propellants with highest energy density. It is, therefore, possible to reduce the size of the main energy source. The Piezo elements itself are used as a modulator and behave like a loaded capacitance with which high power pulses of several tens of Megawatts are generated. The paper will describe basic design rules to generate voltages of several 100 Kilovolts on a capacitive load. It covers also the correlation of the output voltage and the pressure close to the depolarization of the single ceramic. The influence of the aging and of the load behaviour on a single element after several 1000 load cycles will be explained. Miniaturized repetitive and single-shot HPEM sources are shown and future prospects of the application are discussed