Kg. Ringler et al., THE ENERGY-ABSORPTION CAPABILITY AND TIME-TO-FAILURE OF VARISTORS USED IN STATION-CLASS METAL-OXIDE SURGE ARRESTERS, IEEE transactions on power delivery, 12(1), 1997, pp. 203-212
Varistors for use in station-class surge arresters were tested to dest
ruction to determine their energy absorption capability at current lev
els ranging from 0.8 A(peak) to 35 kA(peak). Typical mean values incre
ased from 400-600 J/cm(3) at the lower current end to 1,600-2,000 J/cm
(3) at 35 kA(peak). The product of the mean time-to-failure and the me
an current was found to be a constant over five orders of magnitude. T
he varistor failure mode was found to be a characteristic of the curre
nt magnitude. It is recommended that standard test methods be develope
d for the energy absorption capability of metal-oxide surge arresters,
and be included in relevant standards.