A statistical approach to prediction of ZnO arrester element characteristics

Abstract

ZnO arrester elements consist of ZnO grains with dimensions in the range of 10 to 100 /spl mu/m, the boundaries between which form double Shottky junctions with conduction voltages in the range of 3.5 V. A fraction of the grains contain no conducting boundaries with other grains, which results in the percolation path for current across the ZnO element being a statistical parameter which is a function of the fraction of nonconducting grains, which also affects the nonlinear properties of the element. In this paper, we use a simple statistical approach to predict the effect of the fraction of nonconducting grains on the nonlinear properties of the element. This computationally simple approach gives results which are comparable to far more complex approaches which require solving a network of nonlinear resistive elements.