Reliability performance of pulse discharge capacitors

There is a void of public specifications for pulse discharge capacitor applications. Sandia National Laboratories has developed, over the past 25 years, specifications and test procedures for evaluating capacitor designs for this specialized use. There are three primary destructive tests that are used to assess the reliability potential of a given design at a required rated voltage. These are ultimate short time breakdown strength, life at voltage, and pulse discharge life. The strategy of the method is to accelerate the test conditions so that failures are observable and then extrapolate to the desired use conditions where the failure rates are low. This paper will present the statistical methodologies employed to analyze experimental data and to provide a point estimate of reliability with a lower confidence bound as a function of rated voltage. In addition, methods for establishing lot-acceptance-criteria specifications will be discussed. The techniques will be illustrated with actual data on a commercially available, low-inductance, pulse-discharge capacitor. The capacitor is an impregnated dual dielectric (mica-paper/polymer film), extended-foil type