An improved method for switching-impulse evaluation

The standard IEC 60060-1:2010 “High-Voltage Test Techniques - Part 1: General definitions and test requirements” defines a parameter called “time to peak”. In addition it describes a method for evaluating the time to peak of switching-impulses. This method suffers from two problems. Firstly, the method is only to be applied to so-called standard switching-impulses. That is impulses essentially equivalent to two super-imposed exponential curves. Secondly, the results given by the method only agree with the definition for standard switching-impulses that have certain combinations of rise times and fall times. This paper proposes an alternative, more general and robust method for determining the time to peak.