volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

This paper studies the nonlinear effects induced by a TVS limiter on an entire system illuminated by a high power electromagnetic (HPEM) pulse through a simple model. The relations between the load responses and the incident electric field under different conditions are obtained numerically. The results show that the TVS limiter not only protects the circuit which it is intended to but also may increase the response of the other end which is connected to the circuit by a transmission line. The nonlinear effect of the TVS limiter on the other end is dependent on the incident direction of the external HPEM pulse, TVS location, line length, electric field level, and shielding cavity. When the effective coupling length (ECL) of a load is longer than the line length, or its coupling with external HPEM is much weaker than the other end, its response will be affected by the other end connected with a TVS limiter and will become nonlinear. The addition of a shielding cavity will increase the effect because the cavity will increase the duration of the field which results in a larger ECL. Due to the nonlinear effect of the TVS limiter, special attentions, such as considering different incident directions as many as possible in the real testing and setting more margins, should be paid in the protection design.

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Dr. Haiyan Xie

Dr. Hailiang Qiao

Dr. Yong Li

Dr. Jianguo Wang