Pulse Shape Improvement in Core-Type High-Voltage Pulse Transformers With Auxiliary Windings

High-voltage pulsed power technologies are rapidly emerging as a key to efficient and flexible use of electrical power for many industrial applications. One of the most important elements in high-voltage pulse-generating circuit technology is the transformer, generally used to further increase the pulse output voltage level. However, its nonideal behavior has significant influence on the output pulse shape. The most attractive winding configuration for high-voltage, the core-type transformer with primary and secondary on different core legs, is seldom used in pulsed applications, because of its weak magnetic coupling between windings, which would result in a slow-rising output voltage pulse. This paper shows that auxiliary windings, suitably positioned and connected, provide a dramatic improvement in the pulse rise time in core-type high-voltage pulse transformers. The paper derives a mathematical model and uses it to describe the observed behavior of the transformer with auxiliary windings. It discusses experimental results, obtained from a high-voltage test transformer associated with a high-voltage pulse generating circuit, and the simulation results obtained from the numerical evaluation of the developed differential equations implemented in Matlab and taking into account the measured transformer parameters