Ultrafast Capacitor Bank

photo of ultrafast capacitor bank made by CDME at Ohio State

The Ultrafast capacitor bank designed, built, and tested by the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence consists of the energy storage/delivery system, the programmable logic controller (PLC), and the human machine interface (HMI) systems.

The design of the capacitor bank makes for a compact system with a very fast rise time. The system is a pulse power supply suitable for use with a variety of impulse-based forming and joining technologies, such as vaporizing foil actuator welding, electromagnetic and electrohydraulic forming. These technologies are fast and efficient methods of joining, forming and shearing.

Dimensions 55in H x 30in W x 45 in L 
Weight 450 lbs
Nominal energy range 0.5-4.2kJ 
Absolute maximum energy

4.2kJ (50μF at 15kV) 

Maximum output current 300 kA
Capacitor shot life 50,000 to 5,000,000 Charging
Rate 1kJ/sec
Supply voltage 180 – 250 VAC
Capacitor unit 3× (3 in series) parallel

 

 

photo of ultrafast capacitor bank made by CDME at Ohio State
photo of ultrafast capacitor bank made by CDME at Ohio State