High-Voltage Impulse Testers

E.K. Howell
General Electric Com pany
Plainville CT

Franois Martzloff
General Electric Company
Schenectady NY 12345

Reprinted, with permission, from General Electric TIS Report 75CRD039, March 1973

Significance:
Part 5 Monitoring instruments, laboratory measurements, and test methods

The three impulse generators described in this report were investigated a possible candidates for producing the
transient waveform just then adopted for testing the emerging ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) that were
found to be susceptible to the oscillatory transients that had been found to be the most frequent type of transient on
ac power lines (See Res&Ind surges in Part 3).

The third approach was eventually adopted as recommended test circuit in UL standards concerned with GFCI
misoperation, and its waveform became the basis of the IEEE Ring Wave promulgated with IEEE Std 587TM-1980.
A packaged design suitable for bench-top use was then implemented (See TCL Generators in this Part 3) and
several units were built for GE Corporate R&D, GE operating departments, and the Underwriters Laboratories.

It should be noted that at that time, the perceived threat was the low energy-delivery capability of these oscillatory
transients, not the higher energy-delivery capability of what became known as the Combination Wave.
 TECHNICA L INFORMATION
G e n e r a l Elactric Company SERIES
Corporate Resoarch a n d Development
Schenectady, N e w York

\UTHOR SUBJECT NO
Howell, EK+ 75CRD039
impulse test circuits DATE
Martzloff, FD March 1 9 7 5
IITU GE CLASS ,
High-Voltage Impulse T e s t e r s
I
IRlGlNATiNG CORPORATE
:OMPONENT RESEARCH AND OEVELOPMEN
Physics & Electronics Engineering- Laboratory SCHENECTADI,N.Y.
iUYMARY
Design t e s t s on various electronic appliances require
to subject the t e s t sample to voltage spikes superimposed
to the 1 2 0 volt a - c line voltage.
This report discusses three types of surge generator
circuits which can be used to produce these test impulses,
and gives a recommendation for a simple test circuit
which can be easily built by other organizations, thereby
promoting uniform performance criteria.
The t e s t wave shape has the r i s e time of a 5 0 0 kHz
oscillation, followed by ringing at 100 kHz. The f i r s t
peak is adjustable from 0 to 8 kV; the second is 6 0 % of
the first.

+General Electric Circuit Protective Devices Products

Department, Plainville, CT.

(EY WORDS

surge voltages, transients, spikes, impulse,

t e s t equipment

INFORMATION PREPARED FOR

Additional Hard Copies Available From Corporate Research 8 Development Distribution

P.O. Box 43 B l d g 5 , Schenectady , N.Y. ,12301
Microfiche Copies Available From Technical Information Exchange
P.O. Box 43 Bldg. 5 , Schenectady , N.Y., 12301
RD-54 W70)
 HIGH-VOLTAGE IMPULSE TESTERS
E. K. Howell and F. D. Martzloff
I. INTRODUCTION
The high-voltage impulse generators described
in this report have been developed by several indi-
viduals for the purpose of simulating transient over-
voltages a s they occur on residential or industrial
low-voltage a - c power circuits (120 o r 220 volts).
Each circuit was developed on the basis of certain
objectives, and consequently the designs a r e quite
different. An evaluation and comparison has been
made, from the point of view of producing a simple
and economical system limited to generating the
proposed "typical" surge wave shape on a 120 volt
single-phase circuit. (1-3)
The objective of this test circuit i s to super-
impose on a 120-volt, 60 Hz power line a wave shape
having a r i s e time to first peak of a 500 kHz'wave.
followed by a damped ringing at 100 kHz in which
each successive peak should be about 60% of the
preceding peak amplitude, the amplitude of the f i r s t
peak being adjustable from 0 to 8000 volts. The
source impedance for the high-voltage wave should be
50 ohms.
The three circuits a r e the following:
1. General-purpose ignitron switch generator,
suitable for 20 kV, 20 kA pulses.
2. Specialized generator with low-voltage SCR
switch and step-up pulse transformer.
3. Relay-type switch and resonant circuit
(recommended circuit).
11. GENERAL-PURPOSE CIRCUIT
This circuit is assembled from available labora-
tory components, with an ignitron switch built espe-
cially for the purpose. (4) The circuit schematic i s
shown in Fig. 1. The switch is SW; the energy
storage element & can be a line (cable) o r capacitor
bank, charged by the high-voltage supply HVDC.
The surge is produced a c r o s s the matching impedance
R by discharging the cable when the switch i s fired.
4 given in Fig. 5. Photographs of the waveforms a r e
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of surge generator.
Manuscript received February 7, 1975.
The surges developed by this circuit can be
coupled into a n a - c power supply, with a suitable
filter inserted between the bench supply and the r e -
ceptacle where the device under test will be connected.
and where the surge is injected, in a shunt mode;
that is, directly a c r o s s the a - c terminals (Fig. 2).
This shunt mode allows very fast r i s e time for the
pulse, typically 50 to 100 nsec in the absence of de-
liberate sloping network. Furthermore, the source
impedance of the surge can be readily adjusted a s
desired by controlling the parameters (cable charac-
teristic impedance, o r surge impedance of a capacitor
bank).
In fact, the very flexibility of the circuit becomes
a handicap in this case (too complicated for routine
testing to a specific wave shape), and together with
the relatively high cost and inability (as designed) to
produce repetitive pulses, this makes this approach
l e s s attractive than the two others. On the other
hand, when experimentation i s the object, the flex-
ibility of this circuit is a great asset.
111. THYRISTOR SWITCH AND STEP-UP
PULSE TRANSFORMER
This circuit was designed with the specific ob-
jective of producing spikes on the a-c line, with the
further aim of avoiding a high-voltage switch and the
need for a filter. The surge is to be injected in
s e r i e s with the a - c line by a coupling transformer
acting a s a step-up pulse transformer. Figure 3
shows the schematic diagram of the circuit. Energy
is stored in capacitor C. a t about 500 volts. The
thyristor discharges the capacitor through the pri-
m a r y of TI and the pulse is coupled a c r o s s inductance
L by the coupling capacitor Ca. C4 and C3 serve.
respectively, to bypass the a - c line and to control
the ringing frequency. 60 Hz power is supplied through
the isolating transformer Ta.
The difficulty in this circuit, when fast r i s e times
a r e desired, is to control the inductance of the TL
primary loop, which must be in the o r d e r of 0. 2 )IH
o r l e s s for the r i s e time desired in this case. While
the components for this circuit a r e of special design.
a supplier was identified who could produce them for
interested users. However, the relative complication
of the circuit, the cost of the high current SCR r e -
quired, made this approach l e s s attractive than the
third circuit. which will now be described in detail.
IV. RELAY-TYPE SWITCH WITH RESONANT
CIRCUIT
The basic schematic diagram of the tester i s
shown in Fig. 4, and the relay control circuit i s
shown in Figs. 6 through 10.
 DC IZOkVI I
POWER -- I
SUPPLY I
I
l2OvAC I

(50) IGNITRON
I----------I
I FUNCTION I SWITCH
I GENERATOR I
USED A S
r -------
TRIGGER &--+-- 3
4
5

Spike a t o u t l e t - Spike f e d back i n t o power supply

(Minimum RC) - 6 0 Hz t r a c e w i t h s p i k e
6 kV c r e s t - expanded s p i k e ( 5 0 u s / d i v )
1 0 ~ sf i r s t l o o p - z e r o t r a c e w i t h s c o p e pickup

Fig. 2 S u r g e s developed by the g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e c i r c u i t c a n be coupled into a n a-c p o w e r supply.

 500 V D C

TEST
RECEPTACLE
Fig. 3 Schematic circuit of test circuit with s e r i e s injection by pulse transformer.

CR-I
-
LI
------- I
1
:

JND
CRO TRIGGER
CONTROL OUTPUT

+ CI - -025uF. lOkV, (Gudeman, 2 x -01 + RI - 22~1, 1 ~cornp.

.
-005)
R2 - 1 2 n , 1W. C o m p .
C2 - -01PP. 10kV. ( P l a s t i c Capacitors,
R3 - 1 . 3 M n ( 1 2 x 1 l O K n . l/2W)
Inc. )
C3 - 4pF. 40W R4 - 47- ( 1 0 x 4.71Cn. 1/2W)

LI - 15UH ( 3 2 t u r n s , X23 w i r e , 0.7" dia. R5 - 200n' 'I2"

A i r Core ) CR-I - Relay, 2 N.O. poles i n series
L2 - 70vH (28 t u r n s , #23 w i r e . 2.6" dia. GE C R 2 7 9 0 E 100 A2
A i r Core)

* G u d e m a n GC 2 4 5 5 1 0 3 M 3 7 - - 0 1 ~ ~
Gudeman GC 2 4 5 S 5 0 2 M 3 7 -
-005pF
Plastic Cap-Inc. OF100-103F .01vF -
Fig. 4 Basic impulse generator circuit.
 WA U
m -
.

D2 CR-I
I +--
60 Hz CI
SCR l
!:I CRO GATE
50 VA INPUT

DI,D2 - IN5060

SC'R1 - GE C 1 2 2 B

CR-1 - R e l a y GE CR 2 7 9 0 E 1 0 0 A 2
TI - Triad N4S X

Fig. 5 R e l a y c ol ~
t r o l circuit for impulse generator.

Vert: 2 kV/div Hor: O . 2 p s / d i v Vert: 2 kV/div H o r : O.Zps/div

Fig. 6 Impulse r i s e - no load. Fig. 7 Impulse r i s e - 50 o h m l o a d .

Vert: 2 kV/div Hor: 2ps/div Vert: 2 kV/div Hor: 2ys/div

F i g . 8 Ringing wave - no load. Fig. 9 Ringing wave - 50 o h m load.

 In principle, a d - c voltage i s s t o r e d on c a p a c i t o r
C l . At about t h e 70 d e g r e e point on the 60 Hz supply
wave, a p a i r of r e l a y c o n t a c t s a r e closed t o connect
C1 t o t h e L i n e Output t e r m i n a l by way of.a wave-
shaping network L1, R1. C2. R2, and L2. A l a r g e
c a p a c i t o r , C3, p r e v e n t s t r a n s m i s s i o n of t h e wave
back into t h e power s y s t e m . F i g u r e 10 shows t h e
pulse s u p e r i m p o s e d on t h e 60 Hz, 120 volt l i n e ( c o n -
t a c t bounce produced two subordinate t r a i l i n g pulses).
The 500 kHz r i s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i s obtained by
the s e r i e s r e s o n a n c e of L 1 and t h e capacitance of C1
and C2 in s e r i e s . Component v a l u e s a r e s e l e c t e d t o
make JLIC a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50 o h m s , and R1 mas
s e l e c t e d t o provide heavy damping for a s m o o t h t r a n s i -
tion t o t h e following wave. F i g u r e 6 shows the r i s e
t i m e . open-circuit, and Fig. 7 with 50 ohm load.
The 100 kHz damped r i n g r e s u l t s f r o m the p a r a l l e l
r e s o n a n c e of L 2 with the p a r a l l e l c a p a c i t a n c e of C1
plus C2. Again, i s about 50 o h m s . The s e r i e s
damping r e s i s t o r R2 w a s s e l e c t e d t o produce t h e
d e c a y t o 60% amplitude between s u c c e s s i v e peaks.
F i g u r e 8 s h o w s the r i n g i n g wave on open c i r c u i t , and
F i g . 9 s h o w s t h e s a m e wave when loaded by 50 o h m s .
A c o m p a r i s o n of f i r s t - p e a k a m p l i t u d e s shows that the
s o u r c e impedance i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e d e s i r e d 50
o h m s . Approximately 8 kV d-c c h a r g e on C l i s r e -
q u i r e d t o produce a n o p e n - c i r c u i t peak of 6 kV on the
output t e r m i n a l b e c a u s e of t h e c h a r g e t r a n s f e r r e d t o
C2.
V e r t : 2OOV/div Hor: 2 m s / d i v
Fig. 10 I m p u l s e s u p e r i m p o s e d on 120 volt l i n e
voltage - output of i m p u l s e t e s t e r .
At low voltages, the r e l a y c o n t a c t s behave n o r -
mally, but at high voltages they c a n no longer be con-
s i d e r e d a s contacts but r a t h e r a s a moving s p a r k gap.
In F i g s . 8 and 9 d i s t u r b a n c e s in t h e sinusoidal s h a p e
o c c u r a s c u r r e n t in t h e p l a s m a r e v e r s e s in e a c h half-
cycle. T h e introduction of heavy m e t a l ions into t h e
p l a s m a , s u c h a s by u s e of a m e r c u r y r e l a y , c a n r e -
duce the extent of s u c h waveform d i s t o r t i o n s ; however.
it i s c o n s i d e r e d that t h e s e d i s t o r t i o n s do not materially
. .
tests.
L a b o r a t o r y t e s t s with t h i s c i r c u i t used a s t o r a g e
CRO with delayed s w e e p and single sTKreep capabilities.
T h e m a i n s w e e p gate output w a s used t o t r i g g e r the
r e l a y control c i r c u i t , and t h e m a i n s w e e p was t r i g -
g e r e d f r o m the 60 Hz l i n e s u c h a s t o produce the
high-voltage s u r g e a t t h e d e s i r e d point of l i n e voltage.
Main s w e e p d u r a t i o n w a s about 20 m s e c . T h e delayed
s w e e p was f i r s t delayed 1 m s e c , then t r i g g e r e d by
t h e output f r o m divider R4, R5 a t the s t a r t of t h e high-
voltage r i s e t i m e . Since t h e c h a r g i n g t i m e constant
on C1 i s 0.033 second, the t e s t c a n be r e p e a t e d
within 0 , 5 second.
It should be e m p h a s i z e d t h a t t h i s i s a n e x p e r i -
m e n t a l d e s i g n t o i l l u s t r a t e a concept, not a product
design. T h e r e a r e no o p e r a t o r - s a f e t y provisions
shown, and only "qualified p e r s o n s " m u s t be allowed
t o o p e r a t e t h e a p p a r a t u s . The component values a r e
approximations t a k e n f o r r e a d y availability and e a s e
of construction. The p e r f o r m a n c e does show, how-
e v e r , that t h e proposed t e s t waveform c a n be p r o -
duced by a r e l a t i v e l y s i m p l e , inexpensive method.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e ignition switch and i t s con-
t r o l c i r c u l t s w e r e developed by R.N. B u s h m a n a s
p a r t of t h e l a b o r a t o r y equipment used in t r a n s i e n t s
investigations a t C o r p o r a t e RBiD.
T h e S C R / p u l s e t r a n s f o r m e r c i r c u i t and magnetic
components was designed by H. W. L o r d , e s p e c i a l l y
f o r the p u r p o s e of producing t h e s p i k e s on t h e a - c
l i n e voltage.
REFERENCES
F. D. Martzloff and G. J. Hahn, "Surge Voltages
in Residentlal P o w e r C i r c u i t s . " IEEE T r a n s .
P o w e r A p p a r a t u s and S y s t e m s , PAS-89. No, 6
1049-1056 (July-Aug. 1970).
J. E. Lenz, " B a s i c I m p u l s e L e v e l s in M e r c u r y
L a m p B a l l a s t s f o r Outdoor Application, " Illum.
Eng. 133-140 ( F e b . 1964).
" I E E E Guide f o r S u r g e Withstand Capability
(SWC) T e s t s , " A m e r i c a n National Standard,
published by t h e Institute of E l e c t r i c a l and E l e c -
t r o n i c s E n g r s . , Inc.. Nos. I E E E Std. 472-1974
and ANSI C37-90a-1974.
"Ignitron Switch f o r S u r g e G e n e r a t o r , " G e n e r a l
E l e c t r i c Publication GEI-45105, C o r p o r a t e R&D
Schenectady, N. Y.