Ripper opening switch technology

This paper describes computational and experimental verification of a novel compound opening switch (ripper) based on crack propogation down a prestressed foil. The switch is composed of three parallel elements. They are: 1) a large current carrying foil, 2) a fast acting fuse, and 3) a Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV).Computer modelling has shown that the switch is capable of mega-amperes of current for greater than a millisecond in duration while opening to commutation voltages of 10 kV. A low level proof of principal experimetn has demonstrated 15 kV and the generation of 680 volts without the formation of an arc.