Repetitive high peak current pulsed discharge film-capacitor reliability testing
Abstract This paper presents the reliability testing of film capacitors used within a pulsed electro-mechanical transducer system. Operation is characterised by fast energy transfer from the storage element to a load, leading to typical peak current levels in excess of 10 kA, with pulse widths of a few tens of μs and a nominal repetition frequency of 0.05 Hz. Degradation of the capacitor when subjected to these working conditions, for which only minimal data is available in published literature, must be carried out over the temperature range −55 to 85 °C and at different values of the initial stored energy (i.e., capacitor voltage), with the aim of assessing the suitability of this technology to satisfy harsh environment operational lifetime requirements.