Full-wave Investigation

of EFT Injection Clamp Calibration Setup

Spartaco Caniggia
EMC Consultant
Viale Moranti 7,
20010 Bareggio (MI), Italy
spartaco.caniggia@ieee.org

Eric Dudenhoeffer
TESEQ AG
Nordstrasse 11F, CH-4542 Luterbach
Switzerland
eric.dudenhoeffer@teseq.com

Francescaromana Maradei
Dept. of Electrical Eng.,
Sapienza Univ. of Rome
Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
fr.maradei@ieee.org
Abstract
The paper deals with a full-wave investigation of the capa-
citive coupling clamp that is used in electrical fast transient
(EFT) immunity test to inject disturbances to nominal sig-
nals. The analysis is performed by using the software tool
MicroWave Studio (MWS) based on the finite integration
technique. The model of the injection clamp is validated by
comparison with measurements and with the results ob-
tained by SPICE. The full-wave model is used to investi-
gate EFT injection clamp calibration setup, such as that
proposed in section 6.4.2 Calibration of the capacitive
coupling clamp of the IEC 61000-4-4 new Edition (i.e.,
the 3rd).
Keywords
Electrical Fast Transient/burst (EFT/B), finite integration
technique (FIT), full-wave analysis, immunity, Microwave
Studio, SPICE.
INTRODUCTION
Electrical Fast Transient (EFT) immunity of electrical and
electronic equipment is part of the EMC testing as regu-
lated by the IEC 61000-4-4 Standard [1]. In this edition of
the standard, the calibration of the EFT generator is pre-
scribed, but the specifications provided for the coupling
clamp are too general, and the wide range of values set for
the injection clamp capacitance doesnt assure a good re-
producibility of measurements.
At the moment, the sub-committee MT12 of 77B is work-
ing on the preparation of a third edition [2]. This new edi-
tion is taking care of two major issues that are not consi-
dered in the version that is currently in charge: the calibra-
tion of the coupling clamp, and the definition of a suitable
cable layout for the test setup. The motivations that brought
those two issues to the attention, are related to the need of
reducing measurement uncertainties and move towards a
good reproducibility of test results.
In the past, SPICE circuits were proposed to model the EFT
immunity test configuration of a cable inside the capacitive
coupling clamp [3]-[4].
In this paper a full-wave model of the capacitive coupling
clamp is used to investigate different EFT test configura-
tions. The investigation is performed by the software tool
MicroWave Studio (MWS) based on the finite integration
technique. The model of the injection clamp is validated by
comparison with measurements and with the results ob-
tained by SPICE. The numerical prediction tool is suitable
for the following tasks:
1. Calibration of the capacitive coupling clamp;
2. Investigation of layout of cables in a test setup;
3. Investigation of immunity of different cables in the
design phase.
In this paper, a full-wave model of the coupling injection
clamp is used to investigate possible calibration configura-
tions.
IEC 61000-4-4 SETUP FOR EFT IMMUNITY TEST
ON I/O CABLES
The setup configuration for testing the immunity of an
equipment under test (EUT) when subjected to EFT on I/O
data cables is described in [1] and shown in Fig.1. The EFT
simulator generates repetitive fast transient pulses which
are injected on the clamp. The EFT disturbance is coupled
to the EUT by the capacitive clamp housing the cable. The
coupling capacitance of the clamp depends on several cable
parameters such as diameter, material, and shield (if any).
The clamp unit is a test fixture consisting of two hinged
metallic plates that is designed to provide a fixed and re-
peatable capacitance between the output of the EFT genera-
tor and the cable connecting the EUT to auxiliary equip-
ment. The clamp shall be placed on a ground reference
plane of minimum area of 1 m
2
that is not shown in Fig. 1.
The ground (reference) plane shall extend beyond the
clamp by at least 0.1 m on all sides. The clamp shall be
provided at both ends with a high-voltage coaxial connector
for the connection of the test generator at either ends.
To provide maximum coupling capacitance between the
cable and the clamp, the clamp itself shall be closed as
much as possible.
IDEAL WAVEFORM OF A SINGLE EFT PULSE
The new edition of the standard that is still under discus-
sion [2], will provide a mathematical formula for modeling
the normalized ideal waveform of a single EFT pulse into a
50 load. This ideal waveform has rise time t
r
=5 ns and
pulse width t
w
=50 ns as nominal parameters. This will cer-
tainly be a benefit for calibration labs as well as test gene-
rator manufacturers.
978-1-4244-6307-7/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE 602



EUT
Capacitive coupling clamp

Fig.1 Test setup for testing the immunity of EUT subjected to EFT according to IEC 61000-4-4 [1].

The mathematical expression of a single pulse is:

EFT
2
EFT

1 1
EFT v
EFT
1
( )
1
n
t
n
t
v
v t k e
k
t

=



+

(1)
where k
v
is the maximum or peak value of the open-circuit
voltage (k
v
=1 means normalized voltage), v
1
=0.92,
1
=3.7
ns,
2
=51 ns, n
EFT
=1.8, and k
EFT
is given by:

EFT
1/
1 EFT 2
2 1
EFT
n
n
k e





= (2)
The normalized voltage (1) is shown in Fig. 2.
FULL-WAVE MODEL of COUPLING CLAMP by
MWS
The configuration of the EFT setup for immunity testing is
modeled by the software tool Microwave Studio (MWS)
[5], based on the finite integration technique. The MWS
model of the capacitive coupling clamp housing a coaxial
cable is shown in Fig. 3. For simplicity, only the shield of
the cable is included in the model. The disturbance on the
inner wire can be then derived using the transfer impedance
concept [3]. The near-end (NE) and far-end (FE) termina-
tions of the cable shield, as well as those of the clamp are
modeled by lumped elements. The EFT generator is mod-
eled as a voltage source whose wave shape can be set equal
to the mathematical expression (1) or to the measured EFT
voltage at the output of the generator.
SPICE CIRCUIT MODEL of COUPLING CLAMP
A simple SPICE model was developed and experimentally
verified in the past to model the test setup shown in Fig. 1
[3]. The clamp equivalent circuit is obtained decomposing
the structure into N cells, and cascading the corresponding
N circuits which are given by constant-values RLC lumped
elements. The values of the parameters can be derived by
measurements, or by analytical and/or numerical calcula-
tions [3]-[4]. This circuit model is valid as long as the cell
physical dimension is much lower than the minimum wave-
length of interest.


Time (ns)
Normalized voltage
t
w

t
r


Fig. 2 Ideal waveform of a single pulse into a 50 load with
nominal parameters (t
r
=5 ns and t
w
=50 ns).


Open
R
NE
EFT voltage
source
50
R
FE
I
Shield
I
EFT
Cable shield
Cable shield
Clamp
Clamp
Clamp

Fig. 3 MWS model of capacitive coupling clamp housing a
coaxial cable.
603


50
CAPACITIVE
COUPLING CLAMP
housing a
COAXIAL CABLE
R
NE

Open
C
cable,clamp
=13.125 pF
EFT source
R
FE
Cascade of N cells
Cable shield
Clamp
Ground
I
EFT

I
S,FE
C
clamp,ground
=5.375 pF
L
clamp
=43.875 nH
L
cable
=61.875 nH
M
cable,clamp
=39.375 nH
I
S,NE


Fig. 4 SPICE circuit model of capacitive coupling clamp
housing a coaxial cable.

VALIDATION OF MWS SIMULATION MODEL
The full-wave model of the EFT capacitive coupling clamp
is validated by comparing the results with those obtained
by the SPICE circuit model described in [3], and by mea-
surements. In the SPICE circuit shown in Fig. 4, the clamp
is modeled by cascading 10 cells of length 12.5 cm, so that
the model validity extends up to f
max
=240 MHz. The two
lossless TLs in Fig. 4 have characteristic impedance 150
and delay time 0.6 ns.
The currents I
EFT
injected on the clamp, and I
S,FE
induced
on the far-end cable shield, obtained in the frequency do-
main when the cable shield is open at the near-end (i.e.,
R
NE
=) and short circuited at the far-end (i.e., R
FE
=0), are
shown in Figs. 5-6. The comparison of simulations with
measurements shows a good agreement of MWS results
over the whole frequency range, while the circuit model
gives satisfactory accuracy only up to about 200 MHz.
A critical aspect when dealing with EFT injection clamp
calibration and immunity test, is the closing of clamp: to
provide maximum coupling capacitance between the cable
and the clamp, the clamp itself shall be closed as much as
possible. An improper closing provides lower coupling and
an underestimation of EFT disturbances. How an improper
closing affects EFT test is shown considering the two
clamp geometries shown in Fig. 7. The shield current in
frequency domain for the two clamp geometries obtained
by MWS are shown in Fig. 8, where it is evident the influ-
ence produced by the closing.
The transient currents I
EFT
and I
S,NE
obtained by MWS and
SPICE models when R
NE
=0 and R
FE
= are shown in Fig. 9.
These load values simulate a real condition where the EUT
(shield of the cable connected to ground at 360) is near the
EFT source as shown in Fig.1. Note that the waveforms are
slightly different in maximum values because the circuit
model reproduces the commercial clamp used in [3], while
the MWS model of the clamp has not exactly the same ge-
ometry since it represents a typical coupling clamp to be
used for investigation.


90
70
50
40
0 100 200 300 400 500
Frequency (MHz)
Current IEFT (dBA)
Measurements
MWS
SPICE
60
80

Fig. 5 EFT current injected on the clamp.


90
70
50
40
0 100 200 300 400 500
Frequency (MHz)
Current IS,FE (dBA)
Measurements
MWS
SPICE
60
80

Fig. 6 Current on the cable shield.


(a)
(b)

Fig. 7 Clamp geometries: improper closing with low coupl-
ing (a), and suitable closing with high coupling (b).
604

90
70
50
40
0 100 200 300 400 500
Frequency (MHz)
Current IS,FE (dBA)
High coupling
Low coupling
60
80

Fig. 8 Cable shield current for different clamp geometries.


-5
SPICE
MWS
Current IEFT (A)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ns)
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
-2.5
-5.0

(a)

-5
Current IS,NE (A)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ns)
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
-2.5
-5.0
SPICE
MWS

(b)
Fig. 9 Transient EFT current I
EFT
injected on the clamp (a)
and near-end shield current I
S,NE
obtained by SPICE and
MWS (b).
DISCUSSION on SPICE CIRCUIT MODELS
Neglecting the inductances of the clamp a simplified circuit
model can be derived as shown in Fig. 10. The two capaci-
tances are equal to the value of one section of the lumped
model of Fig. 4 multiplied by 10. The results given by the
simplified circuit are compared with those obtained by the
circuit model of Fig. 4. Transient currents I
EFT
and I
S,NE
are
shown in Fig. 11. It can be noted that nevertheless the ca-
pacitive coupling between clamp and cable dominates the
EFT coupling mechanism, the results given by the two cir-
cuits are significantly different. For an accurate modeling
of the injection clamp, inductive effect must be taken into
account and transmission line theory must be used. Howev-
er, the simplified circuit can be useful to show quickly how
the currents change with the value of the coupling capaci-
tance.

Coupling
capacitance
C
cable,clamp
R
NE
R
FE

I
S,FE
50
Open
EFT
source
I
EFT
C
clamp,ground

I
S,NE
Fig. 10 Simplified SPICE circuit obtained neglecting clamp
inductances.

-5
Current IEFT (A)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ns)
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
-2.5
-5.0
SPICE
Simplified SPICE

(a)

-5
Current IS,NE (A)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ns)
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
-2.5
-5.0
SPICE
Simplified SPICE

(b)
Fig. 11 Transient EFT current I
EFT
injected on the clamp
(a) and the near-end shield current I
S,NE
obtained by different
SPICE models of coupling clamp (b).
605

Fig. 12 Setup for calibrating the capacitive coupling clamp using a transducer plate.

INVESTIGATION of CALIBRATION SETUP of
COUPLING CLAMP
The definition of a calibration setup for the coupling clamp
is an important issue that will certainly lead to a reduction
of measurement uncertainties and a better reproducibility of
test results. To this aim, the full-wave model of the coupl-
ing clamp has been used to investigate possible calibration
setups. One of the main issues that has taken the attention
of the Working Group charged with definition of the new
edition (the 3rd) of IEC 61000-4-4 [2], has been the choice
of the cable (i.e., round or flat) to be used in the coupling
clamp calibration.
As previously shown by the example of Fig. 4, the use of
round cables makes EFT test strongly dependent on a suit-
able closing of the clamp. On the contrary, flat cables allow
to improve the capacitive coupling with the clamp and re-
duce the problems related to the suitable closing. A further
advantage in using flat cable will be highlighted later in this
section.
The MWS model is here used to investigate the calibration
setup proposed in section 6.4.2 Calibration of the capaci-
tive coupling clamp of the new IEC 61000-4-4 edition [2].
The calibration setup shown in Fig. 12 consists in a trans-
ducer plate of rectangular shape (i.e., flat cable), inserted
into the coupling clamp, and a proper adapter is used as
connection to the measurement terminator/attenuator. The
transducer plate consists in a metallic sheet of 120 mm
1050 mm of max 0.5 mm thickness, isolated on top and
bottom by a dielectric foil of 0.5 mm. Isolation for 5 kV on
all sides must be guaranteed in order to avoid the clamp to
contact the transducer plate. At one end it is terminated by
a 30 mm long wire to be contacted to the 50 measure-
ment terminator/attenuator.
The mathematical formula (1) adopting k
v
=4 kV, and the
waveform measured by Teseq are used as excitation source
in MWS model to compute the induced voltage on a 50-
load. The measurement setup at Teseq and the MWS model
of the calibration configuration are shown in Figs. 13 and
14, respectively. The load voltage obtained numerically and
experimentally is shown in Fig. 15, and the following
comments can be done:
Measurements and simulations highlight that the 50-
load voltage has a waveform that is very similar to that
of the source, with a peak lowered by about 90%.
To have very good agreement between measurements
and simulations, the measured output waveform of the
EFT source must be used as input (ASCII format) in
MWS numerical model.
Mathematical waveform for the EFT source can be used
as reference for the clamp calibration also.

Fig.13Measurement setup at Teseq.


Distance between clamp and flat cable=0.5 mm
Thickness of all metallic parts= 0.5 mm
Clamp:1m x 0.14mx0.10m
Flat cable=1.050mx0.12m


Fig. 14 MWS model of capacitive coupling clamp housing a
transducer plate as in calibration setup configuration [2].
606

2000
1000
0
-500
0 50 100 150 200
Time (ns)
Load voltage (V)
Measurements
MWS with analytical
EFT source
MWS with measured
EFT source

Fig. 15 Load voltage obtained by measurements and MWS
model in calibration setup configuration [2].

If a round cable is used in the calibration setup, the load
voltage is that shown in Fig. 16. It can be noted that, in this
case the waveshape is not so similar to the EFT generator,
as in case of a flat cable. This provides one more good rea-
son in favor of flat cable. In this case, in fact, the same
ideal waveform defined for the EFT generator can be
adopted as reference for the clamp calibration, with the on-
ly exception to consider the amplitude reduced to about the
90%.
The advantages of using a flat cable in the clamp calibra-
tion setup can be summarized as follows:
The complete chain made of generator, cable, coupling
clamp and coupling path is calibrated;
The waveform specification are the same as at the gene-
rator output.
Maximum amplitude of the measured waveform on the
50- load must be 90090 V when the output level of
the source is 2 kV without load, as required in [2].
The main disadvantage of the described calibration setup is
that additional accessories must be defined: flat calibration
cable and BNC adapter.
CONCLUSIONS
A full-wave investigation has been proposed to study the
capacitive coupling clamp that is used in electrical fast

2000
1000
0
-500
0 50 100 150 200
Time (ns)
Load voltage (V)
SPICE
MWS
Fig. 16 Load voltage obtained by SPICE and MWS models
in calibration setup configuration adopting a round cable.

transient (EFT) immunity test to inject disturbances to no-
minal signals. The analysis has been performed by using
the software tool MicroWave Studio (MWS). The model of
the injection clamp has been validated by comparison with
results obtained by SPICE, and with measurements. The
full-wave model has finally been used to investigate EFT
injection clamp calibration setup, such as that proposed in
section 6.4.2 Calibration of the capacitive coupling
clamp of the IEC 61000-4-4 new Edition (i.e., 3rd).

REFERENCES
[1] IEC 61000-4-4 Standard Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Part 4.4: Testing and Measurement Techniques Electrical Fast
Transient/Burst Immunity Test, 2
nd
edition, 2004.
[2] IEC 61000-4-4 Standard Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Part 4.4: Testing and Measurement Techniques Electrical Fast
Transient/Burst Immunity Test, 77B/631/CD, 2010.
[3] S. Caniggia, L. Vitucci, M. Acquaroli, A. Giordano, Measurement
and SPICE Models for Data Signal Lines Under Electrical Fast-
Transient Test, 4
th
European Symp. on Electromag. Compat. - EMC
EUROPE 2000, 11-15 Sep. 2000, Brugge (Belgium).
[4] F. Musolino, F. Fiori, "Modeling the IEC 61000-4-4 EFT Injection
Clamp", IEEE Trans. Electromag. Compat., vol.50, no. 4, pp. 869-
875, Nov. 2008.
[5] MicroWave Studio (MWS), Computer Simulation Technology,
http://www.cst.com/.
[6] SPICE, Spectrum Software, www.spectrum-soft.com.


607