Protection from Indirect Lightning Effects for Power Converters in Avionic Environment: Modeling and Experimental Validation

This article focuses on a protection system from lightning indirect effects applicable to power converters for avionic applications. The case study considered in this article is a dc-dc pulsewidth modulation buck-boost converter protected by a metal oxide varistor and a series inductive blocking element. The converter is investigated when operated in normal operating conditions, under lightning indirect strokes without protection, and under lightning indirect strokes with protection. A numerical model of the system based on a finite-difference time-domain scheme is proposed. Validation of the system is performed through a comparison with experimental measurements and alternative numerical modeling techniques, showing the effectiveness of the blocking system and the accuracy of the proposed model.