Empirical Model of the Impulse Voltage-Time Characteristic of Gas Discharge Tube

Abstract

Gas discharge tube (GDT) is one of the most important non-linear components used in low-voltage telecom networks to provide overvoltage protection such as lightning. The efficiency of GDT is best illustrated by an impulse voltage-time characteristic. Predictable this characteristic is important because downstream equipments being protected by the GDT are typically capable of tolerating short transient overvoltages. In this paper, an experimental investigation of the impulse voltage-time characteristic of GDTs is performed. Hyperbolic and empirical models are proposed to describe the experimental results and a good agreement with experimental data is found.