Figure 5.20 Measured spike on ZnO surge arrester residual voltage its limited capability to switch fast suggesting that it takes a finite time to turn on the material from a low to a high conduction regime.
It should be emphasised, however, that this time to turn on is not conclusively established. Subnanosecond tests [129] on small ZnO varistors showed no detectable time delay in the conduction process, and high voltage tests [128] claimed a time delay of 3 ns. One major difference between these two sets of conflicting results is the size of test and measurement loops. Minimisation of these loops and adoption of coaxial field-free techniques established that the overshoot; hence the delay to turn on is caused by circuit arrangements [130]. Figure 5.21 illustrates how the voltage spike recorded with a parallel divider is avoided with the coaxial measurement.
5.8.3.2 Effect of discharge current impulse shape and magnitude
Laboratory tests have shown that faster discharge current impulses produce higher peaks of residual voltage but the V –I curve constructed from the voltage at the instant of peak current versus peak current is not affected. This may indicate that the resistance of the material is not greatly influenced by the current rate of rise. The higher magnitudes of current, however, have a faster rate of rise for a given test circuit. It is suggested that discrete current paths form through the material using the lowest potential barriers. With increasing current magnitude, the number of paths increases with some of them getting shorter. Parallel branches having resistances and inductances in series can represent such a process [131].
5.8.4 Combined stress response
The improved understanding of the material behaviour and complete arrester performance has allowed better characterisation ofZnOsurge arresters and more widespread application. Various types of voltage including direct, alternating, variable frequency, impulse voltages and their combinations have been used to test ZnO arresters. Each set of tests has revealed an important property of the material: frequency dependence