Time Domain Analysis of Current Transducer Responses using Impulsive Signals

For the measurement of impulsive currents, which might occur in cases of electromagnetic interference, for example currents generated by the non-linear behavior of electronic appliances, a wide-band large dynamic range current transducer is needed. The electrical response of such a transducer is determined using conventional techniques, that use frequency sweeps of sinusoidal continuous wave signals. For non-linear and/or time invariant systems the superposition of continuous wave signals of multiple frequencies might not be equal to an impulsive current, which is representative for the actual measured signals, and is therefore of interest. In this paper the electrical response of current transducers is determined using impulsive signals, and compared to continuous wave tests. Time domain parameters such as rise time and peak amplitude are extracted, and the frequency response is analyzed using a Fourier transform. The experiments show that the impulsive test is in agreement with the continuous wave method and provides a good alternative method. A combination of impulses could cover a large bandwidth, and is a fast and cost effective approach.