Method and apparatus for electrical cable testing by pulse-arrested spark discharge

Abstract: A method for electrical cable testing by Pulse-Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) uses the cable response to a short-duration high-voltage incident pulse to determine the location of an electrical breakdown that occurs at a defect site in the cable. The apparatus for cable testing by PASD includes a pulser for generating the short-duration high-voltage incident pulse, at least one diagnostic sensor to detect the incident pulse and the breakdown-induced reflected and/or transmitted pulses propagating from the electrical breakdown at the defect site, and a transient recorder to record the cable response. The method and apparatus are particularly useful to determine the location of defect sites in critical but inaccessible electrical cabling systems in aging aircraft, ships, nuclear power plants, and industrial complexes.
Filed: 4/12/2002
Application Number: 10/122448
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
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