Test circuit of impulse spark‐over voltage with different rates of rise for gas discharge tubes

The impulse spark-over voltage of the gas discharge tube (GDT) is strongly related to the rate of rise (RoR) of the voltage. At present, due to the convenience of the test instrument, conventional impulse waveforms, such as 1.2/50 and 10/700 μs, are often adopted to conduct such kind of test for GDT. It has been found that these waveforms are able to generate valid waveforms only with limited RoRs and relatively narrow valid voltage ranges. This paper deals with a simple series RC circuit to test the GDT's impulse spark-over voltage using a ramp voltage, which is approached by an initial portion of a steeply rising voltage impulse whose normal peak value is several times the breakdown voltage of the GDT. The basic circuit theory is described, and the RoR of the output voltage is correlated with the circuit parameters. Moreover, the series RC circuit in this paper is found to be able to deliver a ramp voltage with more consistent RoR than an RLC circuit. The results in this paper provide some suggestions for the revision of relevant standards (e.g., ITU-T K.12 and IEC 61643-311). Circuit parameters for different RoRs ranging from 100 V/μs to 1 kV/ns are also established. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.