Graham Sutherland / PolynomialStyroPyro is back, and he has procured 400 car batteries.
YouTube
the Z-pinch in the copper plates is one of the most bonkers things I've ever seen.
I feel like we should get IXYS or Infineon to sponsor him, and get some of their engineers to develop a parallel SCR or IGBT driver that can actually handle the load. hard to imagine a more effective way to demonstrate a product's robustness than that.
"hey man, here's an IBC container full of mineral oil and IGBTs. enjoy!"
the more I think about it then more I am certain that this thing would be far more terrifying if you could have a microsecond rise time on those 160kA, at least at the switch side (the inductance in the cables might limit it somewhat)
AMS@gsuberland Infineon has 2.4kA rated 4.8kA repetitive, 1200V modules. Cost 30k or so in modules, probably another few grand in busbar, but would be able to do that kind of pulse all day long.
@AMS *begins drafting email*
@gsuberland The big trick will be the buswork design so it
@AMS any thoughts on whether uneven switching would present a problem alongside the parasitics? my main thought would be dI/dt from some switching on earlier than others might cause a big voltage spike on the output, then when the later ones turn on it's much harder on them (and maybe violates SOA)
but idk how much of a concern that is versus just keeping the loads balanced in the first place.
@gsuberland I'd go for local gate drive at each one, equal length fiber optics for sync, and come up slow (1us pulse, 2us pulse, etc.). Risetime would be sub us easy for each gate. Give them a uF or ten of film cap at the terminal and you're likely able to figure out balancing as you go. I'd guess that 18V gate will saturate at 8.some kA so desat protection should help keep you safe. You'd mostly be depending on the diodes and snubber cap to keep voltages safe.
@AMS makes sense, thanks ^^
imagining what kind of TVS diodes you'd need to absorb that kind of pulse 😅
@gsuberland Steering diodes, capacitors, and pulse forming networks are probably the way to go. The average power isn't that high.