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Concept
Voltage spike
Summary
In electrical engineering, spikes are fast, short duration electrical transients in voltage (voltage spikes), current (current spikes), or transferred energy (energy spikes) in an electrical circuit.
Fast, short duration electrical transients (overvoltages) in the electric potential of a circuit are typically caused by
Lightning strikes
Power outages
Tripped circuit breakers
Short circuits
Power transitions in other large equipment on the same power line
Malfunctions caused by the power company
Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) with electromagnetic energy distributed typically up to the 100 kHz and 1 MHz frequency range.
Inductive spikes
In the design of critical infrastructure and military hardware, one concern is of pulses produced by nuclear explosions, whose nuclear electromagnetic pulses distribute large energies in frequencies from 1 kHz into the gigahertz range through the atmosphere.
The effect of a voltage spike is to produce a corresponding increase in current (current spike). However some voltage spikes may be created by current sources. Voltage would increase as necessary so that a constant current will flow. Current from a discharging inductor is one example.
For sensitive electronics, excessive current can flow if this voltage spike exceeds a material's breakdown voltage, or if it causes avalanche breakdown. In semiconductor junctions, excessive electric current may destroy or severely weaken that device. An avalanche diode, transient voltage suppression diode, varistor, overvoltage crowbar, or a range of other overvoltage protective devices can divert (shunt) this transient current thereby minimizing voltage.
Voltage spikes, also known as surges, may be created by a rapid buildup or decay of a magnetic field, which may induce energy into the associated circuit. However voltage spikes can also have more mundane causes such as a fault in a transformer or higher-voltage (primary circuit) power wires falling onto lower-voltage (secondary circuit) power wires as a result of accident or storm damage.
Official source
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