Semiconductor Bridge Cable Test

The semiconductor bridge (SCB) is an electroexplosive device used to initiate detonators. A C cable is commonly used to connect the SCB to a firing set. A series of tests were performed to identify smaller, lighter cables for firing single and multiple SCBs. This report provides a description of these tests and their results. It was demonstrated that lower threshold voltages and faster firing times can be achieved by increasing the wire size, which reduces ohmic losses. The RF 100 appears to be a reasonable substitute for C cable when firing single SCBs. This would reduce the cable volume by 68% and the weight by 67% while increasing the threshold voltage by only 22%. In general, RG 58 outperforms twisted pair when firing multiple SCBs in parallel. The RG 58's superior performance is attributed to its larger conductor size