The influence of a compact test circuit in the puncture test

The objective of this paper is to present the experience of CEPEL´s laboratory in the puncture test (since 1984) showing the advantages to use a compact test circuit with short dimensions very fast resistive divider, the use of an encapsulated sphere-gap to guarantee the linearity of the spark, reducing the charging voltage and the wearing of the impulse capacitor. This experience is important because several test laboratories around the world had stopped to perform the puncture test due to problems in their impulse generators or problems to obtain the real test voltage due to wrong measuring systems. This paper also presents the results obtained when performing a puncture test on a short standard string.