Background Lightning is a transient electrical discharge that occurs during thunderstorms. The current generated by lightning can reach up to 200 kA, causing significant damage to aircraft, overhead power lines, electronic information equipment, and field military equipment. Therefore, the lightning strike test is necessary.

Purpose To address the requirements of the pulse current generators in the lightning strike test, a modular device for generating the lightning current is designed and developed in this study, which is used to simulate the direct effects and indirect effects of lightning current.

Methods The modular lightning current simulation device is mainly composed of four modules A, B, C, and D, which can respectively generate the component A initial lightning current, component B intermediate current, component C continuous current, and component D restrike current of the lightning current. The electrical parameters of the four modules are designed based on the theoretical analysis and the circuit simulation. Module A and Module D adopt the multi-branch parallel discharge scheme of energy storages capacitor and gas switches. The thyristor is used in module B, and module C adopts the scheme to combine the super capacitor and the solid-state switch to cut off the current directly. Considering the requirements of different scenarios for the loading distance, the loading distance can be adjusted within the range of 5 meters to 30 meters by controlling the cable parameters, wave-shaping resistance and loading chamber.

Results The modular device is developed and the preliminary experimental test is carried out. The current waveform output meets the requirements of the lightning current waveform in GJB 1389A-2005. The modular device is integrated into the standard container, which provides support for the lightning strike test of various equipment in different sites.

Conclusions This work designs and develops a modular lightning current simulation device through theoretical analysis, circuit simulation, and experimental testing. The device can generate the lightning current waveforms that meet the standard, which provide support for the lightning strike tests.