Coordination of Varistors with Transient Voltage Suppression Diodes in Automotive DC Systems

The coordination of metal-oxide varistors with transient voltage suppression diodes commonly employed for the protection sensitive electronic equipment in DC automotive systems is experimentally investigated. Double-exponential impulse currents adopted relevant standards, concave and rectangular resembling field records on lightning-related surge events, as well temporary overvoltages, are to stress protective components evaluate their coordination. Experimental results subsequent analysis reveal that effective bidirectional can be a challenging task, especially under long-duration high-energy electromagnetic pulses. Under such conditions, safety uninterrupted operation vehicles containing low-voltage electrical circuits embedded threatened.