Coherence and time-frequency analysis of impulse voltage and current measurements

The aim of this paper is to point out the advantages of the use of the time-frequency analysis in the digital processing of waveforms recorded in high voltage impulse tests. Impulse voltage tests are essential to inspect and test insulation integrity of high voltage apparatus. On the other hand, generated impulse currents are used for different test applications such as investigation of high current effects, electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing, etc. Obtained voltage and current waveforms usually have some sort of interferences originated from the different sources. These interferences have to be removed from the original impulse data in order to evaluate the waveform characteristics precisely. When the interference level is high enough, it might not be possible to distinguish signal parameters from the recorded data. Conventional filtering methods cannot be useful for some interference like white noise. In that case, time-frequency filtering methods might be necessary. In this study, the wavelet analysis, which is a powerful time-frequency signal processing tool, is used to recognize the noise of impulse current and voltage data. Thus, the noise sources can be determined by short time Fourier Transform, and a coherence approach is used to determine the bandwidth of noises.