The Response of a Non-Linear Electric Circuit to an Impulse

Some apparent anomalies in oscillograms obtained in the course of electrical impulse tests of a material used in the construction of lightning arresters have led to a fuller investigation of the behaviour of the test circuit as applied to the study of a material with a non-linear voltage-current characteristic.This investigation has been carried out by evaluation of solutions of the equations of a simplified form of the circuit numerically and by means of the differential analyser, and by further oscillograms taken under conditions suggested by the behaviour of these solutions.The apparent anomalies which originally gave rise to the investigation have been shown to be a real feature of the response of the circuit, and not a spurious effect due to the recording apparatus, and the study of the initial response of the circuit to the impulse leads to the interpretation of another feature of the oscillographic records which had been previously regarded as an instrumental error.